Zombies, Eh?
by Ignatuis Argetlam
Summary: Started up this after I read a story that inspired me. It's similar to High School of the Dead, but in Canada! Check it out, you won't regret it! Rated M for lots of swearing, suggestive humor, and Eric being... Eric.
1. Zombie Form

**Zombies, Eh?**

Read a couple of these and got inspired to make my own! This will be a zombie fic with my own touches, it will take place in Canada!

I'm not cutthroat about pestering if he/she has been accepted; we all know that giddy feeling! As long as you don't god him/her, I'm happy. Also, Pm me any questions you have! I'm consistently on Fanfiction and I will reply. I'm not some busy author person who thinks your aren't good enough for my time, PM me and lets have a conversation!

You want some incentive to send one in? Ask ANY of my OC contributors from any of my stories, you get treated VERY well. I let you make some decision for your character, you get sneak peeks of upcoming chapters before they are published, I don't change your character without your permission, and I am open to changing the story to their perspective if I poorly acted their OC, they are pretty much like Beta's for their OC's!

**Credit to newyorkgirl112, lots of my form is based off of yours because it was so perfect! I wish I could come up with one like that!**

**You know what to do! Fill it out and review or PM!**

**.-Basics-.**

Date this was filled out:

Gender; (form now on, must be girl, sorry)  
Full name:  
Name meaning, if there is one:  
Nickname:  
Reason for nickname:  
Race:

**.-Physical description-.**

Anime picture similar to them(submissions with this ahve a much higher chance of winning):

Age:  
How old they appear:  
Eye Color:  
Glasses/contacts:  
Hair color length and style:  
Weight and height:  
Build(Be detailed as you can):  
Distinguishing marks:  
Overall Health:  
Explain more if applicable:

**.-Likes-.**

Likes:  
Dislikes:  
Favorite Music:  
Least favorite music, why:  
Food:  
Least, why:  
Literature Genre:  
Movie Genre:  
Hobbies:  
Preferred weapon:  
Melee:  
Ranged:

**.-Personality-.**

Habits:  
Greatest Strength:  
Greatest Weakness:  
Soft spot:  
Biggest Vulnerability:  
Most at ease when:  
Most ill at ease when:  
Priorities:  
Philosophies:  
How they feel about themselves:  
Past failure they would be embarrassed to admit:  
Why?

**.-Background-.**

Hometown:  
What brought them to where the story takes place (to be decided):  
Type of childhood:  
Most important child hood event that still effects him/her:  
Why?  
Education:  
Religion:

**.-Family-.  
**Mother:  
Relationship with her:  
Father:  
Relationship with him:  
Siblings, How many, relationship with each:  
Other extended family:

**.-Traits-.  
**Optimist or pessimist, Why:  
Introvert or extrovert, Why:  
Drives and motives:  
Talents:  
Skilled at:  
Unskilled at:  
Good characteristics:  
Character flaws:  
Mannerisms:  
Peculiarities:  
Regrets:  
Accomplishments:  
Darkest secret:  
Does anyone know:

**.-Perception-.**

How do they react to strangers:  
How are they perceived by strangers:  
Friends:  
Wife/husband/lover:  
How do they view the Hero:  
First impression of the character, why:  
What happens to change this perception:  
What does this charcter like most about the Hero:  
What does this charcter dislike most about the Hero:  
What do people like most about this character:  
What do they dislike most about them:

**.-Crisis-.**

How do they react in a crisis:  
How do they face problems:  
Kind of problems they usually run into:  
How they react to new problems:  
How they react to change:

**.-General-.  
**Favorite clothing, why:  
Least favorite, why:  
Jewelry:  
Other accessories:  
Where do they live(Canadian area):  
Where do they want to live:  
What do they do too much of, why:  
Most prized possession, why:  
People they secretly admire, why:  
Person they are most influenced by, why:  
Most important person in their life before story starts, why:  
How do they spend the week just before the story starts:


	2. Nicolas Marcott, My Character

.-Basics-.

Full name: Nicolas Marcott, although more people call him his nickname  
Nickname: Grasshopper  
Reason for nickname: Quick and always ready to jump in to a situation  
Race: Caucasian, French-Canadian

.-Physical description-.

**Check out Appearance in my profile first**  
Age: 16  
How old they appear: 16-17  
Eye Color: Grey  
Hair color length and style: Brown-black, short-medium, spiked  
Weight and height: 6', 145  
Build (Be detailed as you can): He is tall for his age, but not without meat on his bones. He's a little stronger than most because he is athletic  
Skin Color: Olive  
Distinguishing marks: Prominent scar down his bottom lip to the middle of his chin, his lip was split by a horse hoof  
Overall Health: Great, slightly allergenic, coughs during spring

.-Likes-.

Likes: Strategy, Designing, problem solving  
Dislikes: Details, Waiting, Spoiled people, Bossy people  
Favorite Music: Classic Rock, his Dad got him in it  
Least favorite music, why: Heavy Metal, it's just screaming, no thought in the lyrics, no talent  
Food: Sushi, JambalayaTaco's, other foreign food  
Least, why: bland, hard to chew food like well done steak  
Literature Genre: Fantasy, he likes the battle strategy incorporated in  
Movie Genre: Sci Fi, Star Wars convinced him  
Hobbies: Risk, Guitar, slight Karate and Fencing lessons (Orange belt and he is comfortable with a sword)  
Preferred weapon: Sword, only weapon he has ever picked up before  
Melee: Sword  
Ranged: Doesn't know diddly squat about guns, but a handgun would be easier to carry. Someone would have to teach it to him though.

.-Personality-.

Habits: Rubs the back of his neck when he's nervous, he got taught to wrap his knuckles once so he will constantly tape them together when they are idle  
Greatest Strength: He always has a plan. As long as he has a minute to prepare, he can get out of any situation. He can design well to, he is good with problem solving.  
Greatest Weakness: Can't act on the spot, if a problem arrives wihtout warning he might freeze up. He also doesn't belive in himself often  
Soft spot: Guilt, he has a really soft heart and lots of sympathy.  
Biggest Vulnerability: Guilt, a smart person could manipulate him easily without him knowing it. Other emotions can control him too.  
Philosophy:"When in doubt, follow a zombie."  
Most at ease when: Having fun with friends (who publicly state they are friends)  
Most ill at ease when: Something is mentioned about him not being accepted, or that he isn't someone's friend  
Priorities: His friends, he is loyal like a German Shepherd  
How they feel about themselves: Thinks he doesn't have any real friends ( deathly afraid of being a loner), also thinks he isn't attractive

.-Background-.

Hometown: Bellevue, Saskatchewan  
What brought them to where the story takes place (to be decided): Track  
Type of childhood: Gifted, he went to an elite all-boys school, his family was rich  
Education: 10th grade  
Religion: Christian

.-Family-.**  
**Mother: Genevieve  
Relationship with her: She brought in most of the money, and therefore she was always working, didn't see him much  
Father: Jacque  
Relationship with him: They were best friends. Fishing, hunting, driving, they did it all together, he's a chip off the block  
Siblings, How many, relationship with each: One much older brother, his brother has beat him before and is a constant drug addict, he was expelled from the family, current residence unknown

.-Traits-.**  
**Optimist or pessimist, Why: Optimist, kind of happy-go-lucky  
Introvert or extrovert, Why: Extrovert, he's social  
Drives and motives: Find his family, protect his friends  
Skilled at: Strategy, design, slight fencing and Karate training  
Unskilled at: On-spot thinking  
Good characteristics: Friendly, polite  
Character flaws: annoying, pushy on being your friend  
Mannerisms: Raised on an exact expectation of manners  
Peculiarities: a slight geek  
Accomplishments: Honor Roll, several track awards

.-Perception-.

How do they react to strangers: Friendly  
How are they perceived by strangers: "This kid knows too much."  
What do people like most about this character: Creativity, inventiveness  
What do they dislike most about them: Annoying, pushy, not great self-esteem

.-General-.**  
**Favorite clothing, why: loose jeans, navy blue v-neck over red t-shirt  
Least favorite, why: Skinny jeans or guys who wear pink, it's unmanly  
Jewelry: Silver ring on right hand, Silver crucifix  
Where do they live(Canadian area): Bellevue, Saskatchewan  
What do they do too much of, why: talking, he talks before he thinks all the time  
Most prized possession, why: Silver Ring, it was his grandfathers(Now passed) wedding ring  
Most important person in their life before story starts, why: Father, his only true best friend, and his only confidant


	3. Winners!

**First cut!**

**Wow guys, you sent in some great reviews! Give yourself a pat on the back! I've read through them, and decided on three that will fit in great with the story. The first four characters are:**

Nicolas "Grasshopper" Marcotte: The kind-hearted, youngest member who loves interactions, but cracks under pressure.

"The anguish, the hurt, the emotional floods, who is truly worthy to take a life?"

Erickson "Eric" Amsel: A black-belt most would judge as a perv, but would defend his family in a heartbeat.

"You never know"

Leon "Leo" Charbonneau: A cheesecake loving, rebel with a warrior's heart, but would never take charge.

"These bastards want a fight? Hehe, well their getting a war!"

Sora "Sky" Bells: The stealthy dreamer, who believes true success, is only through teamwork.

"We can do this together!"

**I need two-three more girls, so ONLY SEND IN GIRLS from now on. Thanks for your support!**

**Also, the edits will be made to this chapter for the final cut, so look here!**


	4. Nicolas, Eric and Sora

Nicolas Marcotte paced slowly, rubbing the back of his neck and thinking.

"I'm going to need to do it spot on, the people here are good." He thought out loud. Nicolas reached the end of the short Montréal hotel room and spun on his heels, turning around.

"You prepare in the weirdest way." Charles aka Charlie stated from one of the two double beds in the room, he reached into his pack and cracked open a can of Mountain Dew. Nicolas adjusted the collar of his v-neck shirt. It was navy blue and he wore it over a red t-shirt. He didn't have any sisters, so a kindly female friend had helped him put together some styles.

"With the hard training your putting yourself through you'll win for sure!" Nic muttered sarcastically in English, he didn't think he spoke both languages, but he had never actually found out. Nicolas had paced for a good half hour while Charlie hadn't gotten up from his chosen bed.

"Don't blame me; they shouldn't have put a Big Bang marathon the days of Track and Field!" Yup, he definelty heard him. What he said must have made sense to him though, because he reached into his bag and pulled out a shotput. He held it in his hand over his head, slowly raising and lowering it to strengthen his muscles. Charlie and Nicolas had just met; they were the odd room out that got kids from different schools, but they didn't mind. Charlie was going on in shotput, and Nicolas was running hurdles tomorrow.

"I'm sure 10th graders are plotting deeply with the Comedy Channel to sabotage your chances." Nicolas mentioned, again, sarcastically.

"They're out to get me." Charlie stated before he tipped back more Mountain Dew. Nicolas finally stopped pacing and fell spread-eagle on his bed, his face falling deep into the nice fabrics.

"Awest e god nuhce buds." He mumbled through the sheets, trying to say "Atleast we got nice beds."

Charlie ignored him and flipped through channels with little interest. He was a short guy for his age, but his muscles were quite visible without him flexing, he wore a muscle shirt most of the time. That might not sound like much, but he's a 10th grader, they aren't jacked, so he's quite strong for his age.

Charles finally settled on a zombie flick and Nic looked away, He hated zombies.

_At least my Aunt will be there for this one, _Nicolas thought optimistically, usually none of his family saw him in track but his cousin was taking fencing lessons today in Montreal, over two hours from where he lived. His cousin was crazy dedicated, he was a black belt in Karate (Nic was an orange) and he is so good with a sword, he could probably cut the liver out of an airborne pigeon without it noticing. A loud static noise pulled both of their attention's towards the TV, where a news man replaced the movie, much to Charlie's disdain.

"_We interrupt your program to bring you important news_." He began in English, and then again in French. "Breaking news" music played in the background. (If you don't know what it is, think about it, it will start playing in your head in a second.)

"_There has been a near overnight outbreak of a terrible disease, coined, 'The Bear Flu'. Victims are known to go into a deep coma, near hibernation hence the name, nearly minutes after contact with this disease. The body also uses up nutrients on overdrive when in a coma, so Doctors predict victims will be deathly hungry when the awake, if they ever do. It is unknown how this disease spreads, so the government has advised to stay indoors until further notice. Major cities such as Montréal and Québec City have quarantined all cases in the hospital, so you may go outside if you live there. The following is a list of safe cities_:" The news man listed off a scarily small list of safe cities, which luckily included Montreal.

"What the Fuck?!" Charlie bolted up, not caring he spilled Mountain Dew everywhere. "Track's probably cancelled." He muttered, sinking back down on the bed.

"Don't say that! Don't say that!" Nicolas begged, getting up and pacing again, he had trained to hard and for too long for track to be postponed.

"I'm going out." Nicolas stated suddenly, he stopped pacing and started walking out. He grabbed his hoodie from a bedpost on his way out.

"Where?" Charlie asked, it was completely against the rules to go outside the hotel.

"I need to see my aunt."He stated firmly before he closed the door behind him, leaving no room for argument. He walked down the hallway, his loose jeans scraping against each other. He looked down at his gym duffle bag, and tried to think why the hell he had brought it.

**()()()()**

Erickson Amsel was lost when it all started. He had recently moved to Quebec, though he didn't speak a word of French, and his siblings insisted he went to a fancy school, too bad it was huge.

"Fucking A..." He muttered, smirking at a passing girl. She had beautiful green eyes and her nice, wide hips swayed back and forth with every step. He was 6' 3, so he also got an overhead view of her chest.

She turned back towards him, her hair flying around her face. It was blonde with black tips on her bangs and red tips on the rest. She scoffed, finding him not-so-secretly checking her out.

"What a perve." She stung her words like a whip.

"Aw c'mon girl!" He said as she walked away, but she didn't turn around. She rounded the corner of the hallway balcony and disappeared from view.

He turned the other way and walked slowly, hands in his loose black jeans.

_Fucking Rosemount High School, size of a University, how am I supposed to get anywhere?_ He wasn't lying, Rosemount was one of the biggest in the city, it even directly connected to the subway.

He ultimately decided to skip first class and just try to get to second because it would take awhile to find the classroom. Plus it was poetry.

"Who has a freaking Poetry Class?" He exclaimed to the lone hallway. He moved his hands to the pockets of his white cargo jacket. He thought about taking it off, he had a dark blue long sleeve shirt and a white tank top underneath so he was quite warm. He couldn't put it anywhere, so he threw it over his shoulder and kept walking. He spotted a fountain and bent down to drink. He paused for a moment, looking at his reflection.

Neck-length dirty blonde hair fell over his face, shadowing his eyes from view, but he didn't need to see them. They had been brought up enough today by passing students.

Sure, he was blind in his left eye; it wasn't hazel like his right. And no, his cheek scar wasn't from a fight. And yes, his left pinky was limp on purpose.

He got up without taking a drink and kicked the wall. Not very hard, just enough to feel it up his leg.

_Damn Canadians, I thought they were supposed to be nice. I guess with teenagers what can you expect._ Eric was from New Jersey, so he didn't really know many Canadians.

An inhuman scream ripped him from his thoughts, it came from behind him. He didn't think, he just ran.

"Help! Stay Back!" The same voice begged. His feet thumped hard against the tiled floor as he sped up his pace. He reached the corner and stopped, nearly skidding off of the balcony. Eric's jaw slackened and his muscles loosened and the pure shock of the scene.

The girl from before was being edged into a corner by two people. They hardly looked like people though; they looked like they had been to Hell and back.

Their shirts were ripped and tore, and whatever was left was stained crimson with blood. Their skin was the worst; it was gray and sagging, wrinkled in many places. Their eyes were grey-white, similar to his left, and their fingernails were black, they were barely human.

"Help me! They're going to hurt me!" She begged, bringing him out of his observation, his mind instinctivly shot back to the many hours of dojo training. He didn't care who these people were, you couldn't just corner a lady like that, he might be a bit of a ladies man sometimes but he would never go there.

He thrusted his hands back, straight with his body and at a 45° angle to the ground. He brought his right knee to his chest, and then straightened it and hit the left man directly in the cheekbone, sending him flying. He truned and shoved his face and torso to the ground to his right, swinging his left foot around and hitting the other man on the front of his neck with the top of his foot, making an audible _crack._

The girl rushed forward and hugged him, he just kept his hands at his side and smirked, liking the feeling of a girls thanks. She pulled away suddenly.

"T-t-t-t-Thank you," she began; she took a couple breaths and continued "What were those things?"

'You think I know?" He said, but he was thinking something far from that. he flexed his foot and wiggled his toes, his kick had been slightly off and consequently his foot hurt.

"I'm Sora Bells, but call me Sky. You are?"

"Erickson Amsel, and if you call me Cyclops I'll kick your ass." Sky thought he was joking, but he wasn't, he hated his blind eye being brought up. They shook hands and he made sure to keep it extra long, taking time to glance at her large cleavage from bending forward.

"Eric, do you mind if I walk with you? Those things, there might be more..." Eric nodded, glad to play the macho bodyguard. "And don't worry; I have a cousin who was blind-"she was cut off from the speakers sizzling to life for an announcement.

"Code Red! I repeat Code Red! Get to your classroom students! Listen to your teach-"It was cut off suddenly with a strange noise, like a TV being turned off; Eric guessed it had been unplugged or lost connection.

"Code red?" Eric asked casually, bending over to pick up his cargo hoodie he had thrown aside in his flight.

"Extreme Danger, get in the classrooms and lock your doors, don't leave no matter what." She recited.

"You don't think..." he began, he tilted his head towards the two motionless things. He had an idea what the "things" were, but he hadn't brought himself to accept it, let alone mention it.

"I hate to say it, but probably. What else would it be? Those... things, they came out of nowhere, I watched them bite someone... they ate him, this is all crazy." Sky looked down and shook her head. she blinked once, and then looked up. She would face the new problem head on and do whatever should could to fix it. she reached into her blazier pockets, calming down when her hands closed around her hand fans. They were given to her by her father and she valued them deeply.

Eric asked who they bit, and she pointed to another motionless human farther down the balcony.

They both ran (Eric got a good view of Sora's jiggling breasts) towards the motionless man, both of them really wanting to know what was going on.

**()()()()**

"Must be the wrong address." Nicolas muttered to himself. He checked again, then double checked. Yup, the dojo was apparently in a High School. Nicolas sighed, he could try and go in, but he would most certainly stick out. He wasn't wearing the uniform first of all, plus he wasn't even close to a registered student.

_You know what? I going to go in there and be happy I'm not in school._ He thought, he was missing school for track and it was awesome.

Nicolas easily hauled himself over the metal gate, which creaked way too much for his liking, and his sneakers hit concrete. He flew across the courtyard to the nearest map. He quickly pointed out where the dojo was and made his way there. He hoped he didn't get lost; there was a large chance of that happening because he had no sense of direction.

He pushed past students ditching class who stared at him intensely. He returned it with a kind smile and a wave. They just continued their stare.

_Gosh people are weird here._ He thought. He was from the flat Prairies, where things were very different. In Saskatchewan, they could afford thousand dollar china, but preferred paper plates. They didn't have anything against city lights (Heck, they had nothing against anything) but they preferred smoke country nights. Everybody's honest and polite, you can leave your door open and your car unlocked. Nobody cared where you were from, as long as you were polite. To Nicolas, it was heaven.

Luckily, Nicolas only met one more person, she was a girl who smirked at him and winked, whatever that was supposed to mean, but he had smiled and waved.

"Was it a left at 102 or a right? Damnit!" He stomped his foot against the floor, now completely lost.

He heard a male yell at a pitch most males cannot reach, and his attention soon centered on a commotion on a balcony that wrapped around the school. Nicolas ran over, and watched in horror as the man was eaten alive. He ducked beside a fire hose container and watched helplessly as they mercilessly tore a piece out of his shoulder and chewed it... and swallowed. The two figures got up and left, probably looking for more food, they left the male barely alive. The second they were out of sight, Nicolas flew to the rail and was loudly sick. _Those things! They were cannibals! What the fuck is going on!?_

When he was done, Nicolas wiped his mouth on his sleeve and turned to the male.

**Credit to Colt Ford for awesome lyrics about farm life.**


	5. Leo and Sidney

_Tap_

_Tap._

Leon Charbonneau tapped his metal baseball bat twice on home plate before raising it over his shoulder. He was on the field outside of Rosemount High School.

The pitcher nervously shook so much he nearly vibrated. Everyone had heard rumors of Leo's thousand-pound swing, but this particular student hadn't seen it up close yet.

Leon wore a black long sleeve shirt and black camouflage pants. On his head was a black baseball hat with a flat bill pointed upwards, he also wore a dark green zip up and dark green Combat boots. Let's just say he was a little hot in the sun.

The shaking male gulped audibly, brought his arm back and threw the baseball dead straight.

Leon smirked, although he already had his confident smirk plastered over his face prior. He clenched his bat and brought it forward, making an ear-splitting, metallic _crack._

It flew high over everyone's heads, not making a traditional arc but rather just going up at a direct angle without sign of slowing down.

Leon casually held his baseball bat in his left hand as he strolled over each base slowly. Everyone on the other team groaned as he brought in the loaded bases.

Leo walked past the bench and the fence towards a small group of males outside. Without noticing, he still hadn't put down the bat.

"Leo, my man! That shit was tots cray!" One of them walked forward, fist-pumping Leo. He wore a long jersey down to his knees that covered his sagging jeans.

"Thanks Seth." Leo panted, smiling.

"But-" Seth interrupted. "You missed him." He said sadly.

"What-"

"I'm disappointed Leo, you were supposed to 'accidentally'" he made air quotes."Hit the little bitch that refused our offer"

Of course it hadn't been much of an offer, do our Calculus homework for the semester or I'll beat you isn't exactly a good example of free will.

"Seth I thought you were kidding! You can't expect me to do that, I could kill him!"

"Do I ask you to think?" He asked venomously.

"Seth-"

"Do I ask you to pity little bitches?" He pointed at Leo.

"...no" Leo answered hesitantly.

"Then do what I ask you and you might go far!" He poked Leo between the eyes with his extended finger before walking away with his posse.

Leo looked down sadly, his face losing his trademark smirk. He could smirk doing anything, even if it was illegal, but he didn't smile when he let Seth down. Seth was the only one who accepted him, and he needed to make it up to him.

"Leo." He called after a second, motioning for him to come over.

"I'll give you a chance to prove yourself. Come with us, do what I say, and I'll forgive your failure.

Leo smiled and caught up to him.

000

Sidney was lucky; she was at a gun range when it started.

"Better take these." Sidney's older brother Grant handed her newly bought pink ear protection.

She smiled brightly at Grant when she took them; it was the little things like getting pink that made him so _awesome_.

She raised her handgun to eye level and aimed it at the target at the end of the range. She held her breath and slowed her heartbeat, minimizing the shake of her hand. It stood still over the middle, and she pulled the trigger repeatedly.

_Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!_

The target automatically slid down the range until it was right in front of her face.

Sidney smirked, her shots had blown a large hole in the middle, they had all hit within two inches of the bullseye.

"Not bad sis." Grant said, letting out an impressed whistle. "But now it's my turn!"

Grant smirked as he grabbed his Remington 700, setting the tripod stand on the booth

that separated him from the other shooters.

He raised the scope to his eye, leveled out, and pulled the trigger.

_Crack!_

He flailed back the bolt and shoved it back in without looking away from his scope.

_Crack!_

He did the same thing again. He fired the entire clip, reloaded, and shot in perfect tune, like clockwork.

The target was brought up and Grant smirked largely, his hole was barely bigger than the hole a single bullet makes, he had hit all of them perfectly.

He replaced the target and got set up for a second round, but he never got the chance to shoot; at least not at a target.

000

"Here's the deal." Seth began as he told his cliché of his plan. "Word has it this kid is in the nurse's office, he sleeping. But here's the catch, he was delivering test answers for a teacher." The group responded loudly, loving the idea.

"So we go in to visit our little 'buddy' and steal them?" a group member asked eagerly, to which Seth nodded.

These guys were almost always hanging in the halls, so they knew the closest way to nurse's office, getting there in ten minutes. Seth had advised that Leon keep the bat "just in case".

They looked in through the door window to look for anyone, but it was empty save the patients.

Seth opened the door and went right to the nerd in question's bed. Leo studied him, he looked strange. His right shoulder was wrapped, but it was quite obvious that the skin around it had turned gray and infected. The wrapping on one place on his shoulder dipped in, as if a chunk of it was missing.

"Hey there _Buddy." _Seth sat down on his bed, and the boy just moaned. "I'm going to borrow these, do you mind? Just let me know." Seth smiled viciously as he reached under the bed and grabbes the test papers from the boys bag.

The student's body writhed and he hacked up blood. _Alot_ of blood, all over Seth.

"You son of a bitch!" Seth yelled, desperately wiping it off " Leo, kill him!" He commanded, but Leo never heard him.

"What the fuck..." Leon said slowly. The student's shoulder wound spread over his body. All of his skin turned grey slowly, his fingernails darkened to black. The student flashed open his eyes, they were a milky grey-white, his pupils looked in opposite directions and didn't focus on anything; they just sat there.

In a swift motion surprising for being bed-ridden so long, the student took a chunk out of Seth's shoulder. He actually bit it and ripped of a mouthful off, it was disgusting.

Everyone but Leo rushed to Seth's aid. For one of the first times ever, Leo froze. He never froze, never; but all of this just had him rooted to the spot.

_People _eating _people, what the hell was happening? _Leo pondered.

Seth groaned, and everyone cried out as he stumbled up, looking the exact same as the student. The student jumped out of bed and tackled another group member, eating him also.

That was all Leon needed to start swinging.

He kicked everyone out of his way, bringing his baseball bat over his head. He swung it down and curved to the left, just like normal baseball, and connected with the student's head. Let's just say baseballs aren't the only thing Leo can send flying.

He watched Seth tackle a cliché member and infect him as another rose.

_Infection, that must be what is happening. Seth wasn't Seth anymore, he was a carrier, he was the disease, not Seth. This was the diease..._

As the last group member fell, all of the things rose, turning to the last person in the room._If they are eating each other, this disease, it wasn't them. There was no going back for them, they had changed. Seth would want him to remember him normally, his old self._

_If they are eating each other, this disease, it wasn't them. There was no going back for them, they had changed. Seth would want me to remember him normally, his old self._ Leo repeated it, reassuring himself.

Leo decided killing his friends was the hardest thing he had done all of his life.

He burst out of there, bat now soaked in blood, without a scratch. He looked down into the courtyard and watched two infected teens tackle another, and it too soon rose.

"This is happening everywhere," Leo spoke outloud for the first time in awhile. Leo's smirk that had been absent too long returned to his face.

"These bastards want a fight?" Leo snickered. "Hehe, well they're about to get a fucking war!" As if on cue a student that was infected stumbled towards him, he swung his bat around 360° and obliterated its head.

Leo bolted down to his locker and grabbed his backpack, dumping out everything. He set down his baseball bat and frantically searched through it.

"C'mon, c'mon, where the fuck is it!" He yelled as he searched through it.

He smiled as he found both of them, a black digital watch and a touch screen phone that was fully charged. He threw them in his pocket and on his wrist, slung his pack over his shoulder and bolted outside. He met infected on the way, which he dispatched without mercy. He had no problem with that, they weren't human, and if he didn't then they would eat him, simple enough.

He climbed over the school's gate with ease and ran towards his house; he needed to find his family on O'Brien Avenue.

000

Far down, by the target and at the end of the range, a figure stumbled into view.

He was obviously drunk; he stumbled and groaned as he ran into the targets.

"Get off the range, retard!" Grant screamed, very frustrated. Similar outbursts could be heard all along the line

The figure just groaned and stumbled around more. Sidner started to hear a strange noise, drumming almost. It was dull and barely audible, but it was definitely real.

One shooter finally lost it and shot a handgun. He didn't aim at the man, hell no, he dry fired it. Just a warning to get the fuck off of the range.

The drunk man stared towards the source of the sound, and then stumbled his way, jaw slackened. Sidney noticed that the drumming got slightly louder.

"Grant, what's happening?" Sidney asked, no one had ever gone on the range before; the man's behavior just seemed so alien.

"I don't know, but if he comes close we are leaving." He stayed firmly, he wasn't going to let anything happen to his little sister, and a drunken man in a room full of firearms wasn't exactly safe.

The man never slowed, so Grant handed her his gun bag and took hers himself. Sidney noticed this; he always took his own bag, always.

"You wanna fight tough guy?" The man who had shot challenged. She looked towards Grant as the drumming got louder. Suddenly, he thrust the 700 into her hands.

"Get out!"

"What? Grant I-" I was cut off by the sound of breaking metal. The door at the far end of the range broke open, and more men stumbled in.

_Wait, those aren't men, there are women and teenagers, and they aren't drunk, their..._ Sidney's thought trailed of as the first "drunk" man came into view.

His skin was dry and grey; all around his eyes were deep black sockets. His jaw was slack, but it was covered in a red substance. His shirt was covered in the same red substance.

_What s that on its shirt and jaw?_ Sidney thought. _Wait no, it can't be_.

It was _blood_.

"Leave now! If those things come out before I do leave without me!" Grant commanded as he raised her handgun, now with a full magazine. She didn't hesitate and bolted outside as fast as she could.

Sidney doubled over and panted. _What was wrong with those people? They must be injured, that would explain the blood and the stumbling. But why were their jaws bloody?_ Sidney shuddered, not wanting to think about it.

She put the rifle strap over her shoulder and put in a fresh magazine.

_The blood couldn't be from other people. No, that was stuff from the movies, it was because they were injured. They couldn't be_. No, she wasn't thinking that, Grant was still in there.

She raised the gun higher and scanned the area around her. Once Grant burst out of there they would high-tail it out of here and forget it ever happened.

But then the gunshots started. They downed out the loud moans of the things.

_No, if their shooting, that means..._

It didn't make it any better when the yells started. Full grown men screaming and crying, calling for their moms and begging for them to stop. Their screams of pain haunted Sidney to the very soul, she would never forget them.

_No, no, no, no._

The door burst open and a figure burst out.

"Grant!" She called out hopefully. The figure stumbled away from the door, revealing itself.

It was a "thing", but that wasn't what made Sidney cry.

In its mouth was Grants severed hand. She knew it was for sure. He lost his middle finger at the first knuckle in an axe accident.

She raised her gun and blew the fuckers head off. After she worked the bolt, she ran. She didn't know where, she didn't know what her plan was, but she here more of them, so she just fled.

She cried. The tears came in torrents, soaking the front of her tan shirt. She didn't just cry, it wasn't little sobs, not a couple tears, she screamed faster than she could take breath in, taking sharp choke-sounding pants. It was terrible, if anyone had seen her, they wouldn't know what to do. Her emotions were on overdrive, as if someone had turned off Niagara Falls, and then turned them back on, the water being her emotions.

She ran down O'Brien Boulevard towards the same avenue, not knowing what else to do.


	6. Natasha

Eric's sneakers screeched slightly on the polished floor as he came to a stop in front of the hurt student. Eric prided himself on his strong stomach, but even he had to bend over the rail because of the sight.

Sora was close behind, but she held it in.

"Oh my god..." Was all she could say, the male was a mess. His clothes were little more than scraps, all over his body there were scratches and bite marks. His eyes twitched, his pupils glazed back and forth, his breaths was barely more than ragged gasps every couple seconds.

Eric finished and knelt down beside Sora.

"Do you-"Eric swallowed another urge to be sick. "You know anything about this?"

"I took some nursing courses, but this is beyond me. Maybe if someone dedicated there whole life to medicine, but he..." She could hardly bring herself to say it. "We can't do anything for him."

"You can't do anything at all?" a new voice asked. Eric looked up to find a boy maybe a couple years younger than him kneeling beside the student. He scolded himself for not even noticing him.

"No, I'm sorry." Sora repeated.

"We can't just leave him here! We need to bring him to a hospital!" The new boy urged, apparently set on saving the student. Just as he said that, the boy let out his last breath and stayed still.

"Oh my god..." Eric repeated what Sora had first said. He just... died. He knew there was nothing they could have done, but nobody liked seeing somebody die like that.

"What's your name?" Sora burst out, wanting to have her attention on anything but the dead boy in front of her.

"Nicolas. Nicolas Marcotte." He held out his hand kindly.

"I'm Sora Bells, and this is Erickson Amsel." She took his hand and he shook it firmly. He turned towrds Eric and grasped his hand firmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Sora studied him intensely. He seemed 16, maybe 17. She frowned, even sitting down she could tell he was quite taller than her; she hated people being taller than her.

He had flawless olive skin, kind gray eyes and a small but visible scar on his lower lip. His hair was dark brown and it flowed around his face.

Nicolas stood up, still looking at the boy. If she had to guess, he was 6', but with a little meat on his bones.

"What should we do know? We can't just leave him here." Sora chimed in, the not-so-motionless boy's body spasmed.

"What?! That's impossible!" Eric yelled. He was dead ten seconds ago, there was no way he was alive.

Slowly, his body changed. His skin and fingernails darkened, his sockets turned black, when he opened his eyes, they were white and glazing.

"No! He's one of them! "Sora shrieked, she grabbed Eric's shoulders and pulled him back. The boy slowly got up, groaning and stumbling. Nicolas backed up, mesmerized. He had only seen the attack from a distance, he hadn't yet comprehended the danger.

"We need to get out of here!" Eric instructed.

_No shit. _Sora thought for a moment.

The cracking of glass could be heard, and the boys turned to see Sora walk forward with a fire axe.

"Way ahead of you." She commented before she swung the axe at the things, she didn't have enough strength to take its head off, but it stuck to the wall.

She grunted and put a foot against the wall, using its leverage to pull it out before she finished it off.

"What happened to those people?" Nicolas asked, on the verge of being sick again.

"They aren't people anymore, they are undead." Sora answered darkly, "There's more, look." She pointed down to the courtyard, the trio watched as two undead took down a human, less than 30 seconds later the new undead rose and followed the two to stumble around.

"They won't hesitate to kill us, we need weapons." She threw the fire axe to Eric.

"You don't mean..." Nicolas started.

"You didn't see it, you didn't see them attack that boy. They are bloodthirsty and heartless, we need to get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan to me, here." He handed the axe to Nicolas. "Don't worry, I'm a black belt."

"You sure you don't want it?" Nicolas offered the weapon to Sora, still using manners even with the situation.

"Are you kidding me? I can't swing that thing." Sora crossed her arms. "I can take care of myself, don't worry."

"Where do we go to?" Eric asked, he wanted to know a little more before he got caught up in all of this madness.

"I say we get lost, find a safe place and wait until this cools down. We will need supplies and ways to carry it, so we will move as a group and grab our packs. Then we'll go to each of our houses and grab supplies." Nicolas offered.

"What about our families?" Sora brought up.

"Mine are back home, I live in Saskatchewan." Nicolas shot in; "I do have family in this school though, one cousin, I need to check if he's ok."

_I might finally get the chance to do the one thing I set out to do._ Nicolas pondered, both of them looked at Eric.

"Mine are." Eric pursed his lips tightly and looked down. "In a better place, a better place than this hell." He motioned towards the motionless corpse.

"I'm sorry." Sora chimed in automatically.

"Don't be, I've gotten over it." Eric assured "What about your family?"

"I'll have to check on mine, they should be at work but they might have come home." Sora flipped open her phone, absolutely no service.

A groan was heard from farther down, the two undead Eric "took care of" had heard the noise of the conversation.

They all ran towards them instinctively, Nicolas taking the lead, followed by Eric, and then Sora.

"Don't hesitate! They aren't people!" Sora assured, diminishing chances of hesitation.

They reached them, Nicolas brought his axe behind his head, and then swung his horizontally, catching the undead in the temple with the pick side of the axe. It stuck it in the way, he had to messily pull it out.

He kicked it to the side and rushed forward, but Eric overtook him. He Sparta kicked it in the chest, driving it backwards and onto its ass. Nicolas used the axe blade to separate the head from its body before it coulg get up. The group hurried along as the school body crumbled around them.

000

When she couldn't run anymore, Sidney sat down and cried. She chose a recently abandoned house, sat everything down and put her head in her knees.

It wasn't long before she heard moans. She stopped crying and looked up; several of them were stumbling down the street. She held her breath, but they just walked by.

_Interesting._ She noticed. _Their senses aren't based on scent or sight._ She pondered shooting them, but that would attract others. If they couldn't see or smell than that means they hunted with their ears.

_Hunting. Grant loved hunting._ Sidney's mouth grimaced and she put her head back in her knees, crying quietly.

Out of nowhere, she heard approach her. She grabbed her rifle and pointed it at the things head.

It wasn't a thing, it was a human.

"Are you undead?" she asked anyway, loading the bolt. There was a tall male standing towards her with his hands in his pockets.

"Isn't everyone?"The boy snorted, sitting down beside her. She picked out a baseball bat in his left hand.

"Well than what do you want?" She inquired.

"Leon Charbonneau." He offered his hand, completely ignoring the question. Sidney took it, but didn't give her name.

"Is this hell or what?" he asked in a slightly quieter tone. "I watched it on my way by, the disease is spreading like wildfire."

"Not if you can do anything about it." Sidney countered with a smile, indicating his bloody bat.

"Aint that the truth."

"My- my name is Sydney Amsel." She said. Considering what she just saw, she wanted to take the chance to make an ally.

"Don't you think we should honor them somehow? Like, it seems wrong killing them."

"The most honorable and respectful thing to do for those undead is to crush, blow, or destroy their heads; or all of the above." Leo commented, earning a loud chuckle from Sidney. Sidney causally tucked a strand of dirty blonde hair over her shoulder. She usually kept it neat, but it had gotten a bit messy in the commotion.

"You realize to get through this, we need groups right? There's going to be bandits everywhere, people walking around with shotguns killing everything they see, people or undead. That's not even starting on those infected things."

Sidney nodded sadly; she knew where he was getting at.

"I hate to come on strong, but do you want to come with me? We can head to each other's houses and get supplies." Sidney pondered it, he could very well turn on her and kill her, but then why had he comforted her? It would also be better to be in a pair so someone could have her back.

She decided to walk behind him, because he made the mistake of bringing a bat to a rifle-fight if he did turn on her. She voiced her answer as they both got up.

"That's great! Now, let's kick some undead ass!" He exclaimed, Sidney worked the bolt in response.

000

Natasha Glöckner cheered as her older brother's team stepped up to bat. She still couldn't believe it; _her _older brother Vincent was playing baseball in _Stade Olympique_! (Olympic Stadium)

She smiled wider, if that was possible. Natasha was the definition of optimism, she always cracked jokes and her face never lacked a huge smirk.

She checked her phone quickly, her grandma had texted her. She sighed in frustration, out of every grandma; the most annoying one in the world had to be technologically advanced as everyone else, and she had to be hers. She tucked her phone in her large leather jacket, the jacket had belonged to her dad and it was one of the last things of his she had. She also wore tight-ish jeans.

Not that they would have much to look at in Sasha's opinion. According to her, she a somewhat lithe build, with fairly decent muscle definition in her arms, but no boys cared about that. where it counted, her bust was average for her age, and her hips were nothing special.

She looked up and saw a pretty big commotion on the other side of the crowd, on the foul side of the large yellow pole.

_They probably hit a foul into the stands and are grabbing teh ball, heck maybe they are trying to start a wave, _she thought.

She played with her light chocolate hair aimlessly as she waited for the next batter. She had her hair back in a ponytail, but it was about upper-back length when it was down.

She saw number 44 step up to bat and she instantly stood up, it was Vincent. Some people spoke out in protest, but she shushed them as she took out her Nikon for a video. She screwed on her biggest lens to get a good video.

Their voices were raised even more; she couldn't even make out what they were saying. First pitch, ball.

"He's my brother!" she explained without looking back. Second pitch, strike.

Their voices got louder, they were yelling, crying even. Third pitch, strike.

"C'mon Vincent, c'mon..." She urged, looking through the lens.

There were a couple moans in the background. Natasha turned just in time to see a person lunge at her.

She didn't have the strap around her neck, so she desperately swung the large camera at the person. It hit them square in the forehead, the large lens knocking the person back a couple steps.

"What the fuck?!" She demanded as the figure stumbled up. She looked around; the stands were in chaos, how had she missed all of this?

People were running for their lives, fans attacked fans, scratching, grabbing, fighting; it was like an all out brawl.

_Wait, no, that __can't be._ She saw one fan sit down and start _eating_ another person.

She placed her tennis shoes on the chest of the person she knocked down and looked at her in horror.

It was barely a person. The girl's tank top and yoga pants were ripped and tore, if the rest of her wasn't so gross most guys would have liked that. Her outfit was soaked with blood; and all of the skin that was visible was gray and sagging. Their eyes were grey-white, and her jaw slacked, soaked with blood. She strted foaming at the mouth as she frantically tried to bite Natasha's foot, but it was far enough down and she had a good hold on her.

She looked around, and noticed over half of the people were like this. They were attacking people, even eating them.

One word came to her mind instantly.

_Zombies_.

_This was a fucking apocalypse._

Her thoughts were confirmed as she saw people with bite marks all over their body get up after being pretty much dead.

_I'm going to die! I don't have any weapons, or supplies, or a plan, what if I'm the last person alive Vincent! What about Vincent!_

She looked down and saw Number 44 swing his bat and take off a Zombie's head with ease, he spun it behind him and cracked another's skull. Sasha sighed in relief, she didn't need to worry about Vincent, but she needed to get down there!

She stomped her zombie in the face, ending its life successfully. She didn't think twice about killing in self-defense when she saw people getting eaten alive all round her. She had panicked at first, but now she needed to calm down and survive.

She easily ran towards the stairs, dodging any zombie attempted. She started bounding down them, taking 3 or 4 at a time, when she nearly tripped on a body; it was a large security guard.

He was dead, he had no breath whatsoever. He did have a pair of SAP gloves though, and those could be quite useful, she didn't honestly expect to fend them all off with her bare hands.

She took them off his dead hands with quite a bit of difficulty since they were in a fist, but she got them off, finding that they were her size.

_Damn that man had lady hands. _She pondered as she continued towards Vincent. She tried to find him on the field again, but she couldn't make him out in the huge crowd.

"Vincent!" She screamed. A zombie stumbled towards her, she raised her fists, took careful aim, and smoked it with a right hook, sending it flailing towards threw stands.

"Vincent!" she screamed, but again got no answer. More zombies came up from behind her, and 4 came from below, so she sidestepped into a line of seats.

"Vincent!" She screamed at the top of her lungs one last time, se now couldn't make out a single grey jersey of Vincent's team on the field, she decided to meet him outside.

She hopped down from the seats and hit the field; she recovered in a split second and started sprinting. The zombies never had a chance; she had been a sprinter all her life.

She easily got outside without incident. She continued her sprint with only a hint of her endurance waning.

_I need to get to a public place, where there's lots of people every day, that's where help will be handed out, to where the can reach as many peope eas possible. Where's the nearest school? _

She racked her brain for the trip here.

_A school, there had been one, its name was, it was, __Rosemount High School._ She saw its name on an overhead sign and followed it. She was going to sprint to Rosemount High School, and she was going to survive.


	7. And Then There Was Three

_**I hope you guys like this chapter, because I had a great time writing it and enjoy the final product! Expect more Leo and Sidney Next chapter! **_

_Left dodge! Right hook! Jump back! Taekwondo kick!_

Eric's Karate skills were strained as Nicolas caught up to him. The Dojo training was one thing, but this was totally different. A moment's hesitation ended your life; every move needed perfect precision and planning, if you weren't completely confident or missed by an inch:

_Splursh!_

The sound of a zombies head caving in under Eric's boot was answer enough.

"Miss me?!' Nicolas called out; spinning around Eric and using the momentum to decapitate two zombies and knock another back.

"Next time, use a hint of urgency!" Eric advised, spinning his body to throw his foot into a zombie's neck at high speeds, easily cracking its neck.

"Will do!" Nicolas slowly backed up so him and Eric were side by side, facing the ten or so zombies left.

"I'll go in swinging, make sure they don't get behind me and watch my axe." Nicolas strategized instantly, running towards the right flank with his axe raised.

"Here it is fuckers!" Nicolas called out, slicing across a zombie's torso, spurting blood over him.

Eric was close behind him jumping and flailing, desperate to hold the small semi-circle they were making into the undead. He did three punches in quick succession on a zombie's forehead, dazing it. He brought his foot back and turned, swinging it to connect with a zombie's ribs, knocking her back as well.

Nicolas spun, catching two heads before using the pick to pin one to the ground. He swung way too hard though; the impact jarred his hands like crazy and forces him to drop it, luckily just as a zombie pounced on his from the side.

Nicolas desperately ducked ad rolled under the tackle, dodging the ounce but still taking the zombies shoes to the mouth. He grabbed the axe from beside him and held it aloft. One zombie came forward before he kicked it in the jaw, although he lost his shoe.

"Eric!" He begged, undead coming at him from both sides, he desperately tried to scuttle away.

Nicolas crouched to get up, although the second he did the infected would pounce on him.

Eric ran in from nowhere, he used his back as a springboard to do an in-air kick, doing the splits and breaking both zombie's noses.

Knowing they were the last two zombies, Nicolas bent over and panted.

"Next time, buy a trampoline." Was all Nicolas had to say, Sora passed them with crossed arms.

"Hmph! I want a weapon! Why can't I fight!" she demanded.

"Don't worry-look! We're at the fencing club!" Nicolas got distracted ad dropped the axe, bursting into the room without thought.

"Nicolas!' Sora called, but it was already too late.

000

Natasha made it through the school without incident.

It was pretty obvious the infection had reached here too, three was the odd blood splat on the walls, but she didn't run into a single person.

_Where could they all be?_ She pondered as she strolled through empty halls. _They probably all flocked to the gym for a presentation, or maybe they barricaded themselves in there. But still, not a single person? Survivor or zombie, this still seems so eerie..._

"_Nicolas_!" She could barely hear it; it just caught the edge of her hearing. She instantly went back into her sprinting mode; she needed to get with more survivors, if there was any. She hadn't seen a single one on the way here. She had seen hordes of zombies, but it was the apartment part of town. She easily climbed the fire escape and jumped the one or two foot gaps between buildings.

The scene's along the way had been disturbing, children clinging to dead bodies, people eaten alive while they screamed for mercy, parents begging for someone to help their infected children, only for them to turn and infect them. It had taken all of her willpower not to hop down and help them, but what could she do? She was a teenager with gloves on, they were up against hordes.

_The entire human race has fallen in a matter of hours._ She shook her head in disgrace as she desperately tried to track the noise_. We toppled like a Jenga tower, and now they leave us survivor's to pick up the pieces. _

000

"MASON! MASON!" Nicolas called out as he opened the door. It was a large rectangular room, with a recatgular duel area in the middle. There were blood spatters everywhere with numerous infected bodies; there were obvious signs of a struggle.

Nicolas heard a soft chortle; it came from the far corner where a person sat with his head in his knees.

"Are you okay?!" he flung out, dropping next to the boy.

"G-get out." Was all the student said. His school outfit was soaked red with blood.

"Were you bitten?" Nicolas asked quietly. The student shakily pulled up his sleeve, revealing a huge bite taken out of it.

"Y-you d-don't have much t-time." The students long black hair fell in front of his face, he shook so much he could barely push it away.

"Did you see a boy named Mason? He's 5' 10" feet and has gold hair." Nicolas pushed his head closer to the hurt student with every question, desperate for answers.

"M-m-m-m-m-ma-son?" the student said with increasing difficulty, his breath turned into ragged gasps.

"Yes! Where did he go!?" Nicolas screamed.

"On-ont-ario." He stammered out. Nicolas smiled in relief, he had a lead.

"His-s-s sword." He pointed to a sheathed sword sitting on the ground. It didn't look like a rapier like what they usually fenced in, but more of a wall hanger, probably taken out to do some damage to Them.

Nicolas quickly retrieved it and brought it to him. Sora quietly retrieved the fire axe he had dropped.

"This was his sword?" Nicolas asked, just as desperate now.

The student nodded its head slowly, before bringing his thumb across his neck.

"P-p-p...leeeeaaasse" the student lifted a very bloody short sword he had in his left hand but he dropped to the floor. He shook once violently before being still. Nicolas gulped loudly, he understood what the student had communicated; he and wanted to end his life before he became a zombie.

Nicolas stood up and turned back to Eric and Sora.

"He died bravely and fought to his own end, he deserves a warrior's death." Eric advised.

"Nobody deserves to be like that forever." Sora added quietly.

Nicolas gulped again and stood up, lifting the sword to his face. It was beautifully crafted; it was all black and white. The grip was black, with little white diamonds running up it in a straight line, its guard was square and black. The blade was two colors, the first, sharp edge was bright silver, and it ran all the way down before it pointed at the tip. The stronger part of the blade at the back was pure black. It hadn't been used in the struggle and didn't have a single stain or blemish.

Nicolas dropped the sheath on the ground and stood in front of the boy, standing like he was setting up for a golf swing. He rubbed his neck for a moment in hesitation, but eventually brought himself to grip the sword. He brought it back over his shoulders, and closed his eyes and he hammered it into the wall, making a sickly sound. He quickly wiped it off on the rug and sheathed the sword, but he couldn't hold it in and was sick on the floor.

"Let's..." Nicolas shuddered. "We need to get out of here." Nobody needed to voice their opinion, they all ran outside.

"Before we try, how are we doing this exactly?" Eric shouldered his pack; they had already gathered their packs.

"Stop!" somebody called out from behind them.

They all looked to see a girl sprinting to catch up to them, which didn't take long because she actually ran quite fast.

"Please... take me with you!" Was the entirety of what the girl said. Nobody in the group said anything as they all looked her over.

Sora studied her like a hawk, untrusting of new people as ever. Nicolas did it with a slight smile though, which comforted her a little.

Natasha stood their awkwardly, not knowing if these people were taking so long because they were coming up with an answer or a friendly way of saying get lost.

Eric studied her carefully.

She seemed sixteen with beautiful hazel on dark olive skin. He noticed a beauty mark just under her right eye, and small scar on the corner of her mouth. Her hair was a silky chocolate brown and in a high ponytail. He tried to compare her to his height, and guessed she was 5'8.

Eric eyes "traveled" and his breath suddenly caught in his throat. The girl had a lithe build, but it made all of her "bodily features" pop out even more. Her ample-for-her-age breasts bounced as she adjusted her footing, Eric swallowed a breath, grimacing slightly, and crossed his legs awkwardly. Even more, her ass was _really_ defined. He got a really good view when she turned slightly to look at Sora, who was on the other side of Nicolas.

Eric did another awkward clearing of the throat and pretended to put his hand on his face in thought. He also leaned against the rail and crossed his legs, turning his groin away from the new girl.

"Are you okay Eric?" Nicolas asked, hearing him. "You seem a little-"

"Fine! Tit-uh-Totally fine! Ass-er-as good ass can be! As!" He stuttered, blinking lots and getting it all out in a matter of about 3 seconds. The new girl studied him for a second, but realization dawned on her and her eyes widened visibly and her neck muscles tightened. Nicolas noticed this awkwardly.

"My name is Nicolas Marcotte; we would love it if you came along." He said, speaking for the whole group. Natasha let out the largest sigh of her life out of relief, she was a couple steps away from Nicolas but she still reached far forward to take his hand.

Eric cleared his throat again, adjusted his hand on his face and turned away even more as he got a _really_ good view of her cleavage from leaning forward.

"Natasha Glöckner." She took his hand.

"Come with us, we are just walking around to get a look at the condition of the school." Nicolas offered and she nodded with a smile.

Natasha sped up to walk right beside Nicolas, while Sora and Eric hung back.

"This is Eric, and this is Sora." He introduced, but neither of them answered, both of them still watching her. One because he was a pervert, one because she didn't trust her yet.

_Well someone is going to have to repopulate, and the more the merrier!_ Eric thought with a unseen smirk. Two of the hottest girls he had ever seen were joining their new group, with practically no one else left in the entire world. As Eric saw it, chances were that he was going to be with this group for a while, with minimal contact to other humans. There were 2 smoking hot girls with just him and Nicolas, who wasn't bad on his own, and no one to take them away from him. This was pretty much his dream.

Eric's smirk increased, life was looking pretty good.

"So Nicolas?" She asked cautiously.

"Call me Nic." He insisted with a bright smile.

"Okay Nic, what's your story? How did you survive this?"

"That Natasha is a great question." Nicolas furrowed his brows slightly.

"Well, I'm from Saskatchewan; I'm only here for track. I heard of the outbreak and set out to find my relatives. They were going to watch me and were in town, I needed to know if they were okay. I headed to my cousins school." Nicolas pointed at the floor, indicating this school. "And found Eric and Sora. We kicked some zombie ass before we found out he already left to Ontario."

"Before we know it, some crazy girl runs up to us, and our magic number is four." He added playfully with a smile.

Natasha smiled genuinely, things were looking up.

000

"Quickly Leo, I think I hear something." Sidney warned, she rested her rifle on an open window and scanned the street, but found nothing.

"Don't worry, Sid, they won't be here, this is the unpopulated part of town." He assured as he decided between cans of beans or cans of tuna.

"This is so frustrating! We would need a vehicle to carry all that we need!" Realization dawned upon him; It's an apocalypse, why not? He turned towards Sidney. "Do you know how to hotwire a care?"

"Not even close." She admitted.

"Go scout around for a vehicle we can use. Made sure it can take a beating from the front, but can also hold all that we need." He instructed, she nodded and went out the front door of Leo's place.

She and Leo had grown surprisingly close considering the lack of time they had spent together.

_I guess in an apocalypse things are a little different. You need to trust each other more, and that means you learn more about each other._

Leo was a hard nut to crack though; she had hardly learned anything about him because he was so private. She did notice some things though. First of all, when in deep thought he holds his breathe, although she didn't think he knew of this. He liked fighting, but he didn't like to take charge. Finally, he can get mad easily but can cool down just as fast, but he will never apologize for it, or anything.

She came alongside a large red truck and peered inside.

It had nice leather seats (Not that it mattered in an apocalypse), it was a 6 seater and a two door. The box seemed big enough to hold everything, plus she saw a box cover in the back so nothing would fall out. She peered inside and found that it was full on gas, for some reason it showed even though it wasn't turned on. She looked around the front and saw one of those bar-things that hook on to the grill. It was shaped like a plus sign; it was all chrome and covered the entire front of the truck.

_Great for mowing down zombies._

"Leo! Leo! I think I found one!"

000

From careful observation all around the school, Eric made a huge discovery that was of great importance.

Natasha's butt swayed alot when she took a step.

Like every single step, one side went way up, and one side went way down, and then they switched places, which made it quite the eye candy.

He smirked as he let his eyes watch it, only to get a quick slap on the back of the head.

"What was that for!" he demanded under breath to Sora.

"For being a gross pervert!"s he shot back, giving him another good slap.

"You should just be happy I'm not looking at you anymore!" he countered, Sora looked genuinely hurt for a second, but it turned to anger and she slapped him a third time.

"You guys okay back there?" Nicolas looked over his shoulder. Unnaturally large, creepy smiles formed on Sora and Eric's faces as they put their hands behind their back.

"So Natasha..." Nic started this time.

"Please, Sasha." She insisted, following the opposite of their old conversation. Things had gotten a little more relaxed now, Natasha had her Dad's jacket slung over her shoulder and you could tell she walked alot more relaxed and loose.

"I don't know how else to say this, but what do you think your strengths are? If we want to survive in the zombie apocalypse, we need to know each other better." Natasha smiled inwardly at his use of her as if she was already part of the group, which she hoped she was.

They all heard a loud screech and stopped.

"What was that?" Sora demanded.

_Screech._

"It's coming above!" Eric commented, looking up for once.

_Screeech._

They all went to a balcony that jutted out slightly so they could see up. A group of zombies had chased a student up the schools small metal power pole.

"Please! Help me!" He saw them and begged, but there was no way they could get up in time. To all of their horror, the zombies began to _climb_.

_Screeeech._

The metal tower groaned against the increasing weight. The tower slowly buckled under the weight and it strted to topple towards them.

"Out of the way!" Eric and Nicolas screamed simultaneously. Once the tower started falling, it fell fast. Everyone got to the side but Natasha.

"Natasha move!" Nicolas commanded.

"My jacket!" She looked around for it; it had slipped off of her shoulder. The tower was only getting closer She finally found it and reached down, grabbing it off of the floor.

"I'm going to regret this!" Nicolas promised as he started running. He took a leap and stretched his body, putting his hands as far out as her could to push her out of the way.

He connected with her, pushing her out of the way and landing on top of her as the tower fell. The tower had broken power lines, which had instantly set fire to the wooden balcony railing.

"Run! We will meet up!" Eric said, he yelled as close as he dared to the spreading flame.

"At 6, Olympic stadium!" Natasha called out, helping Nicolas to his feet. Nicolas struggled, but with Natasha's help they went down the balcony, they rounded the nearest corner and,

Dead end, the balcony led to a stone wall with a single door.

"C'mon Nic, just about there!" She urged, putting one of his arms around her shoulder and helping him along faster, she could almost feel the fire at her back.

Nikolas groaned in pain, the tower had landed on his ankle. If it wasn't broken, it was sprained quite badly.

Natasha fumbled open the door and slipped inside with Nicolas. She got a single seconds view of the underground subway before the lights flickered out because of the power lines, leaving them in total darkness.


	8. Reunion

The second the door closed behind him Nicolas screamed in pain.

"AAAAHHHHH-"Natasha pounced on him and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"You want to be in the dark with zombies?" she asked, she could only tell he shook his head because she still had a hand over his mouth.

"Where are we?" Nicolas stated. The only thing he saw was a set of stairs, which they were sitting on now.

"The entrance to the subway, I saw the sign on the way in." She explained. There was silence for a moment as they both took it all in. They were in pitch black; they couldn't go through that door, Nicolas was crippled and they didn't have any light.

Nicolas heard a soft, continuous rustle of fabric; he turned to the source, Natasha.

"God damn these things hurt." She said cryptically. He fished a small, weak keychain flashlight from his pocket and shone it on her. She had her eyes closed and was massaging her breasts.

He instantly shut it off, he was lucky Sasha couldn't see how much he blushed because of the darkness. It made sense now. When he tackled Natasha, she was faced him, and he had his arms outstretched. He had pretty much latched on to her breasts.

"I'm sorry! Don't think I'm a pervert, I'm really not! I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok!" she insisted, although she was probably blushing too. "Just remember, girls are kind of sensitive there, ok?" She smiled, teasing him.

His face hit a record shade of crimson, although she still couldn't see it, and let out a meek. "_Ok_..."

"Why don't you hand me that flashlight? I can check out your leg." Sasha suggested, they shuffled positions so he was above her (Giggity) and he handed her the small light.

"Don't trust it, I got it for a dollar and it's probably nearly-"He stopped talking and tightened all of the muscles in his body from pain, Natasha was slowly rolling up his jeans.

"Sorry, just give me a sec." She gave him a second to recover and warned him before trying again. Nicolas held his breath and clenched his fists as she rolled up his jeans to the knee and took off his shoes and socks, sending flares off pain up his leg and ankle.

"I want you to let me know if it hurts where I push, ok?"

"Sure." He strained, his leg still throbbing.

"Here?" She placed two fingers below his ankle bone on his inner leg. They were cold, and really soft. They were smooth and silky, kind of like suede.

"Er, no." He blinked himself out of his slight daze.

"Here?" she placed two fingers and lightly pressed right on the lower shin.

"Nope." He said simply. She ran her fingers around his ankle, opposite of the first place. Nic swallowed a cry and strained out a "Yes."

She continued her trek, feeling his leg until she found the exact place of injury.

"The good news is I found where it is." She said with a smile, the small light now illuminating her face. "The bad news is, I'm going to have to press hard one last time."

Nicolas nodded grimly, accepting the consequences of his actions.

"Here." Sasha took the orange sash she wore off and handed it to him rolled in a ball. "Bite on this."

"Thanks." He said sincerely, he knew how much girls liked accessories and that they probably didn't want them in guys mouths.

_Then again, Natasha _is_ different._

His thoughts were interrupted by Sasha pushing right on his ankle with his thumbs. He quickly shoved the sash in his mouth and bit down on it hard, it felt like his entire ankle was on fire while being pounded with a sledgehammer. After a seemingly unbearable time, she was finally done.

"Sorry for the extended 'visit', but I don't know much about medicine." He said it was ok as she rolled back down his jeans and helped him put his socks back on. "All in know is your a lucky little fucker."

He raised an eyebrow instinctively, but then again, she had turned the light back off to save its battery.

"How so?"

"Your ankle didn't break." He let out a huge sigh of relief. "The metal tower just dented it slightly, maybe some tiny fractures."

"How long till I can run?" Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, also not accustomed to people not seeing her facial emotions.

"In a week you should be able to jog, lightly, the first couple days you will need a little help walking." Nicolas's expression dropped instantly.

"Not exactly an ideal apocalypse injury, eh?" He joked lightly as he used the railing to help himself up.

"No injury is ideal really, but don't worry; you'll manage." She slipped an arm around his shoulders but he pushed her off, insistent on getting down himself. She walked a couple steps ahead as he hopped down each step on his right foot.

"How far until the next door? I'm not exactly a city boy." He admitted sheepishly.

"I don't know, 2 blocks?" Nicolas calculated quickly in his head, a block was about 200 meters long, 2 blocks meant they were stumbling around for half of a kilometer.

"So do we have to go down the tracks? Or is there paths connecting the stations?" Natasha held his shoulder as he hopped down the last step.

"No, we will have to go down the tracks."

"What about the third rail? Isn't that like really electrocuted?" Nicolas added, he had never been in one before but he had read about them a little. He noticed his ankle started to hurt more, the shock must be wearing off.

"If they can't turn on lights they sure can't electrocute tracks." She commented. "I'm going to grab your hand, okay?" Now using the flashlight again, Nicolas raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. "You know! S-so we don't lose each other." She sputtered out, blushing slightly.

Nicolas smiled reassuringly and she quickly grasped his hand.

_Grip just hard enough to know your aright and tough, but don't do it hard enough so your hands sweat. Gods don't you dare sweat hand! She'll think I'm gross! _

Nicolas studied her; she must be way more scared than she was putting off. She looked at him for strength and reassurement, and safety.

_She must think I'm some sort of leader._ Nicolas pondered he slowly limped towards the tracks, using the flashlight very couple seconds to keep on the right path. _I hate to disappoint her, but I'm not much of a leader. I'd much rather have Eric or Sora making decisions._

There was a small noise far off and Sasha jumped slightly, gripping Nicolas's hand. Again, Nicolas noticed she had really smooth, cold hands. Nicolas himself reached for his sword with his other hand.

"Its fine, just a rat." He assured as he hobbled along. Natasha pulled out the flashlight and did an extra long check just to be sure. She shouldn't have though, the flashlight flickered twice, and died. Natasha desperately slapped the side of it.

"Damn flashlight! Piece of junk!" she slapped it harder and it shattered. "Awwwww." She said disappointingly.

"Well get through this, we've barely been down here for half an hour, and we have all day to get to Stade Olympique." He assured, he noticed her breathing slowed as she calmed down.

"Okay, But tell me if you hear anything!"

000

"You sure this will hold my weight?" Eric plucked the rope, making a sharp _twang_.

"Its limit is over 300 pounds; unless you have anvils in your pockets you'll be fine." Sora huffed, crossing her arms.

_Get it over with you scaredy cat._

Eric gulped audibly ad looked down the rope one more time. They had made it to the second topmost floor with minimal incident, his karate and Sora's fire axe made quick work of any zombies. They had found a long rope and used bent desk legs to form a makeshift grappling hook. It now hung to the building across the street, sturdily caught in a small crevice in the wall around the roof. Although there were zombies across the street, there were alot more stuck on school grounds, so they had decided to scurry across it and get outside.

"Alright." Eric let out a breath and calmed himself. He slowly walked up to it and checked its tightness around the railing one last time, but it was tight enough so it wouldn't undo.

He slowly got onto his back and hauled himself up on the rope sloth style. He crossed his legs over each other firmly. Just to be sure, he tied his shoelaces to each other. If his legs fell off he would be hanging over a crowd of zombies, so he _really_ wanted to avoid that situation.

He placed his left hand in front of his right, and slowly pulled himself forward with it. He did the same with his right, pulling himself along. Before he knew it, he had a good system going on. Before he knew it, again, he was already a good ways along the rope.

_Right, left, right, left, right, left. I swear to god Eric don't look down and you'll be fine, don't look down._ Curiosity of course made him tilt his head forward to look down, but his will shot it back to its place looking straight up.

_No room for error, you have one job Amsel, don't die._

"Eric!" he stopped going.

"Yes Sora?" he asked, frustrated. What was so important that she interrupted him in a life or death situation!

"Watch out under you!" he looked under him and his breath caught in his throat. He was at the lowest part of the trip, and zombie's hands were nearly scraping his back. He was only about nine feet up, the average high schooler is 5-6 feet, plus a foot and a half arm's reach, let's just say he was a tad scared.

He pulled himself up tighter as he continued. A particularly tall zombie barely ran his finger across his back, and Eric made the mistake of swatting it away.

The zombie latched onto his hand and pulled down with all of his strength. Eric desperately pulled up with his arm, but this zombie was strong. He started to lose the battle and the zombie pulled his hand closer and closer to his face. He opened his jaw to take a bite, and that's what sent Eric over the edge.

Eric let go with his other hand and sent the zombie on his ass with a punch to the forehead. Of course he had let go, so now he was hanging upside down on his shoelaces.

He started to hold off zombies to the best off his abilities, he was upside down after all. He put his hands together and uppercut a zombie, like an upside down volleyball pass, and he noticed he rocked a bit.

He shoved his weight forward and then backward once more. He moved considerably closer to the rope. If he kept swinging, he could grab the rope and keep going!

He did this three more times before a zombie pulled him down and ripped his shoelaces in half. The last thing he heard was a gunshot before his senses were blocked out.

000

"You drive like a granny." Sidney commented with a smirk. The last thing she expected out of Leo was that he drove carefully.

"The last thing I want to do is crash this thing!" Leo defended and Sidney smirked. Sidney looked back to make sure everything was there, but the rope cover was still on. They had scavenged quite a bit form both of their houses. They had several 5 gallon jugs of water, a large stack of f food, and lots of clothes, which they mostly kept in duffle bags. The weapons were a different story. Leo had gotten his Benelli M4 Shotgun and 3- inch shells from his house, and she had been eager to go to her house the entire trip. When she had gotten there though, no one was there. Not a single one of her siblings.

She clutched Eric's sheathed machete in her hands tightly. She had talked it out with Leo; they were looking for her siblings first, which was partly why she had taken it with her, not left it for him to find. She had also taken it along with her as an incentive and a reminder, knowing how much Eric loved it.

She would find her siblings, she would find them alive.

"You do realize they could be infected." Leo reminded as he turned a corner.

"No. No they're not." She assured. Leo shook his head, he liked Sidney's determination but she needed to face the truth, there was a big chance they were gone. They hadn't seen a single survivor in hours, only zombies.

Leo smiled, _Zombies_. He had been having so much fun mowing them down recently, because of the grill bars he could run right through them no problem. The entire front of the truck was painted with zombie guts, and he had lost count of the killed zombies after about the first hour of fun.

"School ahead." Leo warned, schools were a huge target for zombie hordes, most students made the mistake of staying inside, so there was fresh food to eat for awhile.

"Locked and loaded." Sidney smiled as she worked the bolt. Eric parked down the road and turned off the engine so they wouldn't attract attention. Sidney rested teh rifle on the mirror and scanned the school for dangers.

"All of the zombies are inside, no ways out." Sidney said.

"I hope they rot there." Leo commented grimly. Sidney found a good gap through a gate where she found several zombies. She took careful aim, and pulled the trigger, exploding the side of the infected's head.

"Nice shot." Leo said, but it was not heard by Sidney, she worked the bolt and quickly took another zombie.

_There's something above them. What's that, a rope? Wait, there's a survivor! We have to go- oh my god!"_

"Its Eric!" Sidney screamed, grabbing Leo's shotgun and opening the door.

"That's my gun! And who's Eric!?" but she was gone. He grumbled under his breath as he grabbed his bat and chased after her.

000

"Eric!" Eric looked up for a split second.

"Sora?" he commented as he turned around in a circle in a ready position, deciding which zombies to take first.

_It had to be Sora, nobody else knew my name._

"Eric!" he spun his leg around, tripping two zombies.

_It sure doesn't sound like her._ He commented as he kicked a zombie in the chest.

"ERIC!" the third time he heard it, he knew it instantly.

"SIDNEY!" his love for his sister fueled his efforts, he spun around effortlessly, kicking and punching in a flurry of attacks.

"ERIC!" he saw her in the corner of his eye. She spun around with a shotgun, blowing open zombies.

At that moment, with her spinning around, blowing open zombies while getting knocked back by its huge recoil, her hair flying around her face, he couldn't be more proud of his sister.

Someone came up beside him, swinging a huge baseball bat like it was a twig, mowing through swaths of zombies at a time.

"Get to the truck, Eric." He commanded in a slightly deep voice. Although he wondered how he knew his name, he wasn't about to argue. He ran through the temporary break in the horde as through the open gate.

Sidney and the unknown burly teenager was close behind, they grabbed onto the gate and closed it soundly behind them.

Leo locked it with a new padlock; he had broken the old one.

"Sidney!" Eric just about cried as he hugged his sister deeply. "God Sidney I was so worried, I thought I lost you." He leaned back and gave her a long kiss on the forehead.

He crouched down a bit to get to her level. "I know I wasn't the best brother before, I didn't treat you the way you deserved to be treated, but now I promise I won't let you out of my sight again." Sidney's eye started watering as she pulled him in for another hug.

"A little help guys? We need to catch a girl." The boy said. Eric looked up to find Sora was almost all the way across with the fire axe strapped across her back. He smirked as her skirt frilled up in a bit of wind, showing off her underwear. Eric was in a bit of a trance.

Sidney pulled him down by the shirt and slapped him across the cheek.

"Eric! That is no way to look at a girl!" She scolded. Eric rolled his eyes.

"Okay mom, sorry I haven't been a good boy." He said sarcastically, a sly grin appeared on Sidney's face.

"Really? Because good boys get their Machetes back!" she pulled the machete out from behind her back and Eric's eyes widened.

"You didn't!"

"I did." He took it from her carefully, pulling it from its sheath. His machete! He inspected it carefully. It was definelty his Gerber Survival Machete, his favorite possession of all time.

"Best! Sister! Ever!" he screamed and lifted her up in a huge hug.

"Eric _*gasp*_ suffocation." He let her down carefully.

"Guys! We need to catch her!" Leo reminded. Sora was hanging from her hands a little ways up, short drop to them.

Eric positioned himself under Sora and held his arms out.

"Take as long as you want, seriously no rush." He said, earning a slap from Sidney.

"Eric! You just want to look up her skirt!"

"What?!" He snorted. "No." He got back into position, a perfect view of her underwear. Sadly she dropped into his arms nearly instantly.

_Slap!_

"Pervert!"Sora yelled.

_Slap!_

"Eric you perv!" Sidney scolded.

_Slap!_

Eric looked at Leo

"What was that for!?" Leo shrugged.

"Looked like fun!" he said with a chuckle.

"Eric, this is Leo! We teamed up!" Sidney explained. Eric shook hands with Leo and he gave him a hard expression, if someone was alone with his sister for that long he had better have treated her right.

"Sidney, Leo, this is Sora. I single handily saved her from a horde of zombies unarmed."

"As if!" Sora but in. "There was like two!"

"No!" Eric said defensively. There were six at least!" Sky and Sidney shared looks, both knowing this boys strange nature.

"Everyone hop in the truck." Leo pointed to where it was parked. 'And give me back my shotgun!" Leo snatched it from Sidney's hands and inspected it for scratch marks.

They all hopped in the Truck, Leo driving, Sora shotgun, Eric and Sidney in the back. Eric and Sidney had insisted on this because they really wanted to coach up, plus Sora and Leo hadn't met yet. Eric talked lots but mostly sat admiring the return of his odl friend, Mr. Machete.

"What time is it?!" Eric realized suddenly and shouted. Leo looked at the dash clock.

"6:00, why?"

"Head to Stade Olympique! We are meeting friends there."

"The more the merrier." Leo grumbled as he turned around.


	9. Cassie

Bright light was insanely painful after nearly an hour in the dark subway. Nicolas stepped out of the light with Natasha.

"Finally!" Natasha said exasperated.

"Seems like we were in there forever." Nicolas commented.

"No zombies here, strange." Sasha pointed out, Nicolas shuddered. They had run into zombies in the subway, and he didn't want to have that again.

_Not-so-long-ago Flashback_

"_Did you hear that?!" Natasha stiffened. It had been quiet, but it was defiantly a moan._

"_Aaaaaarrrg." Nicolas pulled out his katana and Natasha slipped on her SAP gloves. The moan came from everywhere because it bounced off all of the walls in the tunnel._

_It was utterly terrifying. If it touched you, you were eaten alive. One wrong move in the dark, you killed your teammate, who would probably get eaten too._

_Nicolas pulled Natasha in close and held his Katana out defensively, backing into a wall. It very was awkward, despite the situation. They were pretty much spooning standing up, knees to knees, behind to, uh, groin, and chest to back. _

_Natasha didn't argue though, she didn't want a katana to hit her accidentally. She shifted and leaned in closer, grinding against him slightly._

_Nicolas forced himself to pay attention._

Can't you choose another time to grind me!?

_The monster groaned one more time, revealing its position. Nicolas swung his katana back and forth until it caught flesh. When it did, he desperately pulled it out and continued to hack at the zombie. It finally landed with satisfying vibrations up the sword, indicating he had hit something hard. He pulled it out as the zombie died from the head wound._

He shuddered again; the pure terror had been, well, terrifying.

"About the subway, sorry-"Nicolas began.

"For spooning me?" she guessed.

"Yes, and-"

"Groping me on the balcony?"

"Well those were both accid-"

"Wow Nicolas; you seem to be very interest in my body." She struck a pose; arms crossed, and raised an eyebrow. Nicolas's breath caught in his throat and he blushed heavily. Sasha burst out laughing.

"You are so fun to screw with!" She said happily.

"That's not funny!" Nicolas pointed out.

"I'm just teasing!" She smiled, but it slowly faded. The girls who had bullied her throughout highs school were "teasing". Who had taken her love for non-girly things too far, and called her a-

No, she wasn't dwelling on those memories.

"If I ever cross some kind of line, let me know, ok?" she said, now worried.

"What's wrong with you Sasha? It's just joking, I don't mind!" He smiled genuinely at her and she felt a flush of relief.

"The clock back there said we have more than three hours, now let's live a little!" Nicolas had something in mind, Natasha smirked.

"Carpa Diem and all that bullshit, right?" She inquired jokingly.

"Yeah, Carpa Diem! Now follow me!"

000

"Help! Anyone!" Nicolas and Natasha skidded to a stop.

"Where did that come from?" Natasha's eyes darted back and forth, desperately trying to track it.

"There!" Nicolas saw a zombie go down an alley. When in doubt, follow a zombie. Natasha already had her SAP gloves on but Nicolas had to awkwardly pull his katana out of his sheath on his back. It may look cool in movies, but it was terrible for usefulness. He had given himself many haircuts with it and he was always afraid of slicing his scalp.

They turned down an alley to see a blond teen standing on a garbage can, desperately kicking zombies that were advancing. She caught their eyes and her expression lit up.

Personally, Natasha thought she didn't have a chance. She was standing on something flimsy with zombie surrounding her, but Nicolas jumped to save her before she could voice her opinion.

Nicolas dashed side to side on the concrete, slicing horizontally and decapitating two. He started yelling, taunting them to get their attention. He slowly backed up, and in less than ten seconds he had every zombie following him.

"Run! Now's your chance!" Nicolas took another step back and grunted in pain, his ankle bothered him greatly, but he couldn't worry about that now. He looked up and saw that the blonde had come down, but was frozen in fear.

Natasha jumped in to save him, coming in to the left of Nic and knocking them back with punches. Once they were on the ground, Nicolas was happy to finish them off.

Nicolas bent down to wipe his sword on a zombie's shirt but he was tackled by the blonde. He kicked the sword away before he accidentally stepped on it.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she screamed, squeezing him tightly. The way she was hugging him forced him to put alot of pressure on his back ankle, which happened to be his hurt one.

She tried to go up on her tippy toes and lean closer to his face, Nicolas didn't know if she was trying to kiss him or not, but she was definitely too short.

"Um seriously, it was no problem!" He leaned away from her and rubbed his neck. "Sasha, help?"

"Gladly!" she ticked the girl momentarily, forcing her to retreat her vice on his ribs before Sasha pulled her away from Nic.

"Can I help you-?" Nicolas said as politely as he could, but she still caught the hint. He bent down and wiped his sword off before sheathing it.

"Cassie! Cassie Porter!" She said excitedly. She was about 17, with _really_ big brown eyes. Her blonde hair was long, thick and waving, going down to her mid-back. She was about half a foot shorter than him, and skinny, but she had muscle too, especially in her legs.

Cassie sat there, giddy with excitement, as she waited for Nic to say something.

Nicolas knew he sounded like Eric, but he couldn't resist himself. The girl was skinny, so her D+ breasts bounced with _every, single, move,_ she made. Let's just say he got a good idea when she hugged him tightly, although she didn't even seem to notice.

"Nice to meet you Cass. I'm Nicolas, call me Nic." Nicolas extended a hand, automatically shortening her name.

_Eeeeek! He gave me a nickname! And he said to call him Nic! It's like we are already dating!_

Natasha rolled her eyes but bit her lip in slight thought.

_He doesn't seem like the ladies man type, but just the way he introduces himself. He sounds so sincere, like a true gentlemen. I wonder if he's always had girls like Cassie around him. _

Nicolas sat down painfully and massaged his ankle. Natasha leaned down beside him.

"We shouldn't have run." She stated flatly.

"I was a little ...excited." He admitted with a smile.

"Oh my god, did I hurt you?" She squealed. She was so sorry she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"What happened?"

"A power line tower fell on me." He admitted sheepishly, allowing Natasha to massage his ankle slightly. She knew exactly where it was and she was the only one who knew medicine in the slightest, so he didn't think of it as awkward.

"Why were you near a falling power line?" She asked, sounding a little ditzy.

"I was, well saving her." He said with a smile, reminding Natasha. A look of pure admiration fell upon Cassie's face. She saw him as a hero in shining armour, someone who would gladly save a pretty girl in trouble. In reality, he was a cripple with a sword he didn't know how to use who let his emotions control him.

"I'm sorry, but can I go with you guys? I promise I won't be a deadweight! I can keep up!" she needed safety, plus a closer view of her katana-wielding hero wouldn't be bad.

"Of course you can Cassie." Nicolas said automatically as he stood up. Natasha gave him a look, but he waved it away, he couldn't be expected to send survivors back out there to fend for themselves. He wanted to help as many people as possible.

Cassie shrieked loudly, causing Nicolas and Natasha to cover their ears.

"Thank you!" she tried to grab him again, but Natasha held her back in a wrestler hold.

"You're welcome." He looked towards Natasha "Follow me; it's just a block away now."

000

"So are you like an official ninja or something?" Cassie inquired; Nicolas slapped his hand against his forehead. It had only been half a block, but the questions had been excruciating.

"No, this is my cousin's."

"Do Ninja's fight dragons?"

"No."

"Is that a Ninja sword or a Samurai sword?"

"I have no idea"

" So, are you and Natasha going out?" Nicolas stopped walking and blood flushed to his cheeks. He looked and saw Natasha was doing the same, while Cassie was giggling to herself. "I'll take that as a no!"

"Do you like cows? I love cows! There just so cute and adorable..." Nicolas instantly lost interest as she started rambling.

"I don't exactly dislike them... I guess." He answered awkwardly.

Cassie shrieked, _he likes Cows too!_

He thought she was satisfied, but she never relented.

"Where are you from?"

"Saskatchewan."

"Is that in Quebec?"

"No, it's a province..."

"Where in Sazgashooan?"

"Bellevue, _Saskatchewan_." He corrected her by emphasising on its proper pronunciation.

"Do you speak French?"

"_Couramment,__belle femme_." He said with a wink and she nearly fainted.

_I don't know what he said but it sounded so, beautiful! The way it rolled off of his tongue, it sounded so smooth and romantic! _

Natasha rolled her eyes. She knew what he said, but she obviously didn't.

"Hey look! There it is!" she pointed it out quickly, wanting to save herself from this torture.

The only Cabela's in Montréal loomed around the corner and everyone happily ran towards it. Cabela's was a survivor's paradise, you name it, they had it. Sleeping bags, tents, canteens, crossbows, rifles, handguns, bows, arrows, knives, matches, they had it all. Since the outbreak had been so sudden, Nicolas hoped it hadn't been raided too badly.

Nicolas opened the door and took a good whiff, smiling to find it still smelled the same. It's scent was exactly like the one in Saskatoon, camping, outdoors, with a touch of beef jerky.

"I suggest we all grab backpacks to carry everything first. Try not to grab things we don't need, and remember the smaller the better!" he instructed before stepping out of the way for the girls to go wild. He himself had a specified list of what he needed so he took his time.

Sadly, he found it quite a bit more looted than he had hoped. It was fine though, it was a huge store and the looters had only about two thirds of everything in stock.

Nicolas tested a Eureka Rocky Peak hiking pack for weight before slinging it over his back.

_Not bad, tough material, even has chest clips, I'll take it._ He slowly went over everything in his list.

He got a canteen with a metal boiling cup along with a bottle filter and purifying pills.

He also grabbed a solar-powered lantern and a couple spotlights for light, plus extra batteries. He didn't want another Subway incident.

He was lucky he thought of grabbing a full first aid kit, they would probably use it. They pulled out all the stops; you could nearly perform surgery with it.

He grabbed a small compass, a hunting knife, and a small tomahawk for Sora. She didn't really have a weapon, so she would love it. He also risked size by buying a crossbow, it was silent and would be really useful.

He also grabbed some camo pants and a thick sweater; it got quite cold in Canada sometimes.

After grabbing a tent and a thick sleeping bag, his pack was completely full. He knelt down and tied his sleeping bag to it. He also hooked his Katana through his belt since he couldn't hold it on his back.

"HELP ME NIC-!" the short cry was muffled off abruptly. Nicolas dropped his back and sped off, preparing himself for the worst.

000

"Oh. My. GOD!" Cassie petted the fabric delicately.

_It was like it was made for me!_

She held in her hands a thick sleeping bag, decorated all around with cows. The attached pillow was a cow head, the outside was black and white splotches, and the inside fabric was filled with jumping cows.

She snuggled it closely before stuffing it in her white and black backpack.

_Okay, maybe this doesn't have cows, but at least it's the right colors!_

"What else should I grab? Maybe I'll ask Nicolas..." She trailed off. _Nicolas_. The word seemed like it was made for her very tongue.

_He is so, perfect! He's a gentleman, brave, charming, respectful, caring, kind, polite, and he doesn't act like a total pervert or a jerk like most boys!_ Cassie giggled to herself quietly. _Plus, he's kinda cute!_

_If only he would notice me! Maybe, just maybe, if I buy some different clothing. Something that helps my, well, woman-born attributes._ Cassie smiled and walked towards the clothes section, and that's were it all started.

000

Nicolas bolted around the corner and saw a man holding down Cassie.

"Don't move, buddy." He snarled, only now did he see the long machete in his hands, he recognized it from the shelves.

The clothing section had no isles; it was one of the corners with just carpet on the floors and racks on the walls.

"Looks like your little friend came to save you." He commented grimly to Cassie. He held her around her neck with his arm while one hand held the blade close to her face.

"Look buddy-"Nicolas took a step forward.

"Don't take another fucking step!" the man moved the knife so it barely brushed against Cassie's throat. Cassie whimpered quietly, her hands at her sides in submission and her bottom lip quivering. Her eyes watered slightly.

"Do you have any more friends?" the man asked. Nicolas looked him up and down. The first rule of war: know your enemy. He was a First Nation man, probably 23, who was about 6'5 and very muscular. His shirt portrayed the Canadian flag, but instead of a maple leaf there was a red marijuana leaf. He wore a backwards Blue Jays hat and wore his shorts low.

"I'll fucking kill her man! Now answer me!" he screamed, making a stabbing motion towards Cassie's face, which made Cassie whimper loudly. Nicolas looked grim, he hadn't wanted to give away Natasha, but it was his only choice.

"Natasha!" he cried out suddenly. 'Where ever you are, don't move!"

"Can I tell her about you?" he whispered to the man.

"I don't care." He spat, although he smiled broadly.

"There's a man with a knife, and he's going to kill Cassie if you show up!"Nicolas had to hide a smirk, his past question had seemed so insignificant but it actually had worth.

In order to "win" the situation, he would need to know the man inside out. He had obviously been very pleased Nicolas had asked his permission, showing he liked control and power. Probably another reason he was doing this, other than being a horny lonely survivor. Nicolas had a lead, albeit small, but a lead nonetheless.

"There we go, good little boy." He smiled. He noticed he added little boy, not simple "good job", another lead that he wanted to feel superior.

"Now if you don't want this knife in your girlfriend's throat then I would drop your nice-looking sword."

"If you killed her you wouldn't have anything to..." Nicolas paused; he didn't want to sound like this in front of Cassie and maybe in earshot of Natasha but it was necessary. "Play with."

"You think I care?!" He screamed. "Believe me! You've never met a motherfucker like me! You've never seen the things I've seen!" He bellowed.

"And isn't Natasha a girls name?" He added and smirked evilly; Nicolas's face dropped.

"Now drop your fucking weapons." He panted heavily due to his outburst. Nicolas slowly dropped his sheathed sword to the ground. He slowly set the backpack a little closer to the man, and then backed away with his hands up.

"Great! Now no distractions!" He turned towards Cassie and laughed like a madman, Cassie realized what he meant and started crying.

"Look what she was buying just for you! Show him you bitch!" Cassie looked straight ahead until he took his non-knife hand and slapped her hard; Nicolas winced at the sharp noise as if he felt it himself. Cassie slowly held up a small tank top and yoga pants.

"Wait a minute..." The man's crazy eye's studied him for a second. "You're not her boyfriend!" Nicolas bit the inside of his cheek in frustration. He just needed him to talk a little more before he could formulate a plan. He needed to do it as quickly as possible for Cassie's sake.

"You're not banging this whore?" he took his free hand and slowly groped her left breast, causing Cassie to take a sharp breath. Nicolas forced himself not to watch, to only look at the man's face.

"You must be crazy to not be on this, or a virgin or something." The man commented as he got rougher before he looked up again.

"I'm right! You're hanging around a fucking apocalypse with this hot piece of ass and you're a fucking virgin!" Nicolas bit his cheek harder; he didn't know what the man was doing and why he needed to mention this; but he couldn't stop him, not now.

"Was it your family?" Nic asked suddenly.

"What?" The man looked up, angry from being interrupted.

"Did you have to kill your family?"

"You don't know what happened man! You don't know shit! You didn't know Rico!"

_So he had to kill Rico. Maybe Rico was his gang leader or something, so now he's fulfilling his fantasy of being in control._

"You know she has family, friends, people who love her." Nicolas pointed out.

"Not anymore! Not in this fuck-hole!" He screamed. "Now if you talk one more time, I'm gonna fucking kill her! And I'll do the same if you look away!" He smiled evilly and laughed. He was fucked up, he wanted to torture Nicolas, to have complete submission. He wanted Nicolas to suffer because he had resisted against his new authority.

He ripped off Cassie's sundress and left her in a red lacy bra.

_No, look up, look away, she's your friend._ Nicolas looked at a point above the man's head. Nicolas's desperately calculated a plan in his head while the man squeezed poor Cassie's breasts like a vice, making her cry out.

_I'm too far away! I should have never walked so far back! If I take a step, he'll kill her. What can I use too trick him into coming close?_

"Do you want my sword?" Nicolas asked. He realized with horror he had ripped off the girl's bra, which was lying on the ground. He was now feeling up Cassie's bare breast, and he could't hold himself to watch.

"Man, I SAID- huh?" _Perfect, he thinks now that he's the boss he needs something cool like a sword._

"I have a hoodie in my pack. I'll give you my sword if you let me grab my hoodie. No games, no tricks, I just want to be able to survive in the cold when I leave."

Cassie's expression dropped to the lowest low. It was an apocalypse first of all, and now the person she loved with all her heart was abandoning her to a thug.

"That is a pretty badass sword..." he pondered it for a moment. "Deal." Nicolas slowly walked up to the man with his katana in his hands, placing it at his feet. He slowly shuffled back and went through his backpack a couple steps away from the man, planning the next few steps.

"Here's another!" Nic yelled, grabbing the tomahawk from the bag and throwing it end-over-end at the man. Of course he had never thrown one before and it sailed over the man's head. The man watched it fly as Nicolas ran up to him.

"You need to work on your aim guy! But now she dies- GUH!" Nicolas drew his hunting knife and tackled the man, making him drop Cassie. He got on top and stabbed the thug's right wrist to the ground, forcing him to drop his knife.

"I FUCKING SWEAR IF YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN I'LL SLIT YOUR THROAT YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Nicolas screamed as he beat the man's forehead repeatedly with the butt of the knife. The man swung at him with his left hand but Nicolas slashed with the knife.

The man's breathing quickened as he brought his stump off a wrist to his eyes and started to scream. Nicolas rolled off of him and stood up he picked up the man's own knife and brought it to his throat.

"Get out." He said simply, and the man ran for his life.

Nicolas bent down to Cassie. She sat there with her arms crossed over her nipples sobbing heavily.

"Cassie I'm so sorry!" Nicolas started sobbing himself. "I should have done more, I shouldn't have left you, I should have attacked him off of the start, I shouldn't have let him touch you like that!" He ranted, although she looked down the entire time. He picked up his strewn hoodie and gave it to her.

"Here." He said. He stood up and turned around as she put it on.

"_You can turn around._" she said meekly. She sat down on a bench, her arms still covering her breasts although she was decent. Nicolas sat down beside her.

"Cassie I'm sorry. I understand if you-"

"_Why are you apologizing_?" She whispered, turning to him for the first time.

"I-I-I." Nicolas was caught off guard.

"You saved me Nicolas." She said flatly, the first traces of a smile forming on her face. "I called for you, and you didn't hesitate to come. You put your cousin's sword on the line to save me, and you tackled a man three times your side to stop him and help me." She chuckled slightly and his foolish action. "_Thank you_ Nicolas." She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in, hugging him deeply.

The kind emotions were soon over, and Cassie began to cry into Nics's shoulder, which he was more than happy to provide. He didn't know what it was like to be violated like that, but he would do his best to comfort her. He hardly noticed when Natasha came and sat down beside her.

"Shhh, it's okay. He's gone now. It won't happen again." He comforted, petting her long blonde hair.

"But it did." She said between sobs.

"What?"

"It happened again Nic. This wasn't this first time." She cried even harder and shoved her face into the crook of Nicolas's neck and shoulder. Nicolas didn't knwo waht to say. He had barely experienced grief in his life. One of his good friends had died last year, but that was different. There was no shulder to cry on then, nobody to comfort him. He warapped his arms around her in a thoughtful hug and rested his face lightly on her head.

The emotions went on for the rest of the time they had to spare until the deadline.

**There were so many Giggity's in that chapter (written non m-rated) but since it was pretty serious I didn't put them in. **


	10. Three Turns to One

Walking was slow with all the new equipment.

Every step was seemingly with a heavier load on the trip to the stadium, the date rendezvous.

"C'mon guys, just one more block!" Cassie encouraged. After the short spill of her emotions, her mood had increased exceptionally.

"You didn't kill him." Natasha pointed out, barely audible. Although Cassie didn't hear it, Nicolas shuffled over to Natasha.

"What was that about?" He grunted. He had assumed the rape would be an unspoken subject from now on.

"You sure looked like you wanted to hang him from his own guts, but you let him go free." She continued, talking as if to herself.

"It's not my place to decide life and death."

"You killed the boy in the school." She pointed out, still looking ahead. Nicolas gave her a glare, wondering who told her that.

_Probably Sora, girls tell each other _everything_._

"He asked me too, plus what was I supposed to do? It was either that or live in hell as a zombie for eternity."

"This is pretty close to hell, but you let that man live." She continued to pester, annoying him.

"Who am I to judge life and death? Me and that man? We're no different. I may have been raised a little better, but physically, we are the same." Nic looked up to the clear sky for a moment, and began to chant quietly.

"We all bleed red, we all taste rain. We all fall down, and loose our way. We all say words that we regret. We all cry tears, we all bleed red."

"Ronnie Dunn." Natasha said quietly.

"You see my point of view now? Zombies are dead, but people are another story."

"Yoo hoo! Nicolas!" Cassie called out, interrupting Natasha. She was about to point out that the man had done terrible things, and that Nicolas was ten times the man he was. Nicolas slowly walked over to Cassie.

"I feel bad anyway; he's in hell with one hand. He won't survive a week." Nicolas said quietly in the last moment he could say something out of Cassie's earshot. Natasha's jaw dropped.

_He feels _sorry_ for the jerk! How could he- Why would he- Ugh!_ Natasha grunted in frustration, it made no sense.

"Nicolas, where are we going?" she said it exactly like someone who's head just came out of the clouds.

"We are meeting my friends."

"Ooo!" She suddenly became very interested in different company. "Who are they?"

"Well there are two of them. You will really like Sora; she's bright and very nice. Eric is the other one, he can be a bit annoying but you can trust him with your back." He made sure he was careful with Eric's description. If he told her of Eric's habit to look down shirts and up skirts she would think of the incident.

"Where will we live?" she asked. Cassie was the last person Nicolas thought would ask a question that stunned him.

"I-I don't know Cass. We will find an abandoned house, a big place with a wall, or a penthouse apartment. I'll ask everyone if they know a place we can stay." He explained awkwardly.

"Oo! Oo! Me!" Cassie raised her arm in the air and wiggled around.

"Um, yes Cassie?"

"My family owns a big apartment! It takes up the whole top floor and we never use it!" she announced. Nicolas was awestruck.

_Perfect! I was worried about looking for one, but now we have a penthouse and we know exactly where it is._

"Is there a lock?"

"Yes! But I know the code! Its 4-"

"That's okay." Nicolas cut her off, using normal courtesy.

"There!" Natasha interrupted. Olympic stadium loomed above them as they eagerly ran to the parking lot, where a single red truck was parked.

000

"Are your little friends showing up or not?" Leo checked his watch impatiently; it was 20 minutes after the deadline.

"There he is!" Eric flung open the door and raced across the parking lot, soon followed by Sora. Nicolas saw him ahead of time and waved furiously.

_And he brought a friend._ He thought with a smirk and he eyed the new girl.

"Dude you made it!" Eric said happily, he reached out his hand and Nicolas grabbed it, doing a guy hand shake that looks like an arm wrestle.

"Barely." Nicolas panted as he dropped his pack to the floor.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say we have a lot to talk about on the way."

"Way to where?"

"Again! On the road!" Nicolas chuckled. Eric saw he was tired so he grabbed his pack for him. Nicolas thanked him gratefully.

"You guys gonna kiss or something?" Leo said impatiently. "Then just get in the truck?" Nicolas frowned.

"Who's that?"

"Leo! Sid! Come out here, there's some introductions!" Eric called out. Nicolas stealthily pulled Eric close by his jacket collar.

"Cut the pervert crap around the new girl, I'll explain later." He whispered into his ear. Eric turned and gave a small nod. He didn't know why Nicolas would ask that,because with guys you usually let eachother do their thing, but he trusted his judgment and knew he had a good reason.

Eric put a protective arm around Sidney and she rolled her eyes.

"Guys, this is Sidney, my sister."

"Hi!" Sidney gave a small wave.

"Sidney, this is Nicolas, Natasha and?"

"Cassie!" she butted in, announcing herself to the world.

"And Cassie. This is Leo, who helped bring my sister here."

"We are all great friends, hurray." Leo said emotionlessly. "Now can we all just get in the fucking truck?" Cassie frowned and recoiled at the unnecessary use of a swear, but she was tired of walking and ran towards it. Only after throwing their packs in the back did they noticed they didn't have enough room.

"Cassie in the front and Sidney sits on my lap." Eric decided quickly, choosing the best plan, and everyone agreed. It would be a little awkward if someone else had to sit on a lap, but Sidney was Eric's sister.

Everyone piled in, albeit scrunched, and Cassie started giving directions.

The group was together for the first time, and it was perfect.

Sidney found her brother, so she was happy. Girls outnumbered boys, so Eric was pretty joyful. Leo didn't really care, as usual. Sora was just happy that they were getting along and working together. Nicolas and Natasha were just happy to be part of a social group again, and Cassie was in heaven because she had brought her cow sleeping bag to lie on in the truck.

000

"Once we grabbed all we could carry at the Cabela's we ran as fast as we could here." Natasha concluded the events that happened in her and Nicolas's absence. Sidney ad Eric had both told their much shorter stories first. When Natasha had spoken, she specifically left out the incident for Cassie's sake.

Cassie's shivered, scared like a child in the dark. The subway story frightened her, she was glad to be with other people who could protect her and make sure that didn't happen.

"A left here Leo!" She instructed happily, for they were nearing the destination.

"So how big is this place?" Sidney turned and asked.

"Big enough for all of us for sure!" Cassie responded happily.

"Is there a TV?!" Eric flung out suddenly.

"Yes!"

"How many bedrooms?" Natasha inquired, not thinking about relaxation.

"Is there cows?!" Cassie asked excitedly, but then stopped because she realized she owned it. "Oh yeah, there isn't any..." She looked down sadly.

"Is it on the top floor?" Sidney asked, kindling another bombardment.

"Is there a lock?"

"Can They get up?"

"Is there a pool table?"

"Air hockey?"

"Foosball?"

"Is there a nice stove and cooking set?" Everyone raised an eyebrow and looked at Leo, for he had asked it with excitement.

"What? Is there something wrong with that?" He challenged. He was answered by a chorus of "no"s, "of course not"s, "I like guy's who cook"s, and one "Do people eat cows?"

"Underground parking." Sora pointed out the open door that led under the building. Leo drove inside, got out, and forcefully closed it.

"None of those suckers are getting past there." He said as he parked the car. With seven people it only took one load to empty the truck, it helped that nearly everything was in bags.

Leo somehow took three full five gallon water jugs all on his own up seven flights of stairs. Just saying, that's pretty boss.

"This is it!" Cassie squealed, getting there first. Everyone had taken a little extra so Cassie only had to take her backpack. She walked up to the only door, flipped opened a cover from a keypad and quickly typed in the code. A door unlatched and Cassie opened it.

Everyone rushed in and threw the supplies on the floor, eager to explore.

When you walked in, there was a kitchen and dining room. On the other side of the wall there was a large living room with, as promised, a large TV, as well as plush couches.

There were 3 master bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and walk-in closet. On a normal occasion, Sidney would jump on the best bed she saw and "call" it, claiming it, but how would the rooms be divided with seven people?

"Hey Eric! You can check out the TV later, help me unload!" Nicolas called out jokingly, Eric soon came as called. They slowly assigned different cupboards to different types of food. Luckily, Montréal's power was from dams, so electricity would continue to flow during the apocalypse and power the fridge.

"How are rooms going to work out?" Eric called out.

"I don't know, there's only three, but we'll figure it out." Nicolas promised as he put in the last can of beans. He strolled into the living room and called everyone there, sitting on the comfy-looking chair. Eric and Sidney sat on the love seat, Cassie, Natasha and Sora all jokingly piled into the sofa while Leo stood.

"Where are we as far as rooms?" Nicolas asked when everyone was settled down.

"I don't care; gender specific though." Sora shot in, visibly deflating Eric.

"Really, we barely know each other, so it would make sense for the siblings to be in one room." Natasha put in and everyone agreed. Eric didn't though; he had shared a room with her all his life and now he was stuck with her again?

"I can stay with Sora." Natasha announced, looking away from her short conversation with her.

"The last room is separated double beds, I can go with Leo." Cassie explained.

"Well I guess I'm sleeping right here!" Nicolas patted the leather of the chair and everyone laughed.

Everyone dispersed to go entertain themselves (giggity) but Nicolas tugged on Sora's sleeve and stopped her.

"I have something for you." He announced as he brought her to the kitchen. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as he brought out a sleek black SOG tomahawk.

"You're so thoughtful!" She said, taking it.

"To think weapons have replaced roses as the new romantic." Nicolas joked and she laughed lightly. They sat there awkwardly for a second before Sora politely excused herself.

"Eric! Come here!" Eric turned around the corner and widened his eyes when he saw Nic polishing a silver crossbow.

"Million dollar question, do you like crossbows?" Nicolas joked.

"Yes!" Eric played along.

"Well I happen to have one here!" he brought up the sheath beside it.

"Dude! You can't be serious!"

"Dude!" He imitated jokingly. "I'm serious!"

"You're the best! I owe you!" He said gratefully as he took the weapon from him.

"Kill a couple zombies with it and we're even." He said with a smile.

"Eric!" Sidney called from his room.

"Got to go! Thanks man!" he ran away, taking the weapon with him.

"One more thing!"

"What?"

"Your sister brought your guitar!" Eric raised a fist in the air and whooped loudly before running to his room.

000

"What's up with Leo?" Natasha asked out of the blue. Sora and she were both sitting cross-legged on their bed.

"I don't know, he acts like he doesn't want to be here, but who in their right mind would want to be solo?" Sora said.

"Yeah, we are really lucky we got a group together."

"We can thank Nicolas for that." Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"You don't see it?" Sora asked, almost dumbfounded. "He's a born leader! He always encouraged grouping together, if he wasn't part of it I don't think we would be here together." Natasha pondered it and decided she was half right. She didn't have an opinion of his leadership yet, but he had definetly encouraged teamwork. She smiled as she imagined herself, a sweaty, tired stranger who had asked to join them out of the blue, and Nicolas had happily accepted her in. She didn't know where she would be if he had said no.

000

Eric walked in to Sidney cleaning her rifle. When she saw him she instantly set it aside.

"Eric, there's something I didn't tell you." Sidney started out blunt as Eric closed the door behind him.

"What do you mean?" Sidney bit her lip. There was no other way to say it.

"I was with Grant when it all happened." Eric's expression lightened immediately.

"Where is he? How did you split up?" Sidney hated to bring him down like this, but he needed to know.

"He didn't make it." Eric's smile faded. He stumbled for a moment and caught himself on the bed.

"You mean?" Sidney nodded.

"He sacrificed himself to save me Eric, Grant died a hero." She said sadly. Eric dropped his new crossbow and suddenly threw himself into the vast amount of pillows. He lifted himself up to speak.

"No! You're lying! You always did this when we were kids! He's still alive!" Eric said as he started crying. One look from Sidney was all he needed to know she wasn't kidding. He shoved his face back into the pillows and cried, sobbing heavily. Sidney scooted over beside him and laid a comforting hand on his back. For the first time ever, Sidney played the part of the older sibling. She was only not crying because she had let it all out before Leo found her.

Eric got up and looked at Sidney. She instantly brought him in a big hug, sharing certain emotions only siblings can understand.

000

Everyone got tired very quickly. With the recent events, they all needed a good rest. They all retired to their rooms, but Nicolas sat awake on the sofa.

Cassie had showed him to some extra blankets and a pair of sweats to sleep in that had to be her dads. He had happily accepted and made his bed instantly, but now he found it hard to sleep. He reached forward and grabbed his cousin's katana from the coffee table. Two days ago it held coffee, but now it held cold, killing steel and other weapons.

There was so much grief. He had recently heard Eric's brother was dead, plus Sora told him all of Leo's best friends were killed. Put that on top of the majority of the world's population made it a pretty sad day.

But amongst all of this sadness, hope had emerged. People had been saved, survivors given care and comforted. In eternal chaos, they had found order in the form of a small group.

_That's why human have survived so long, our spirit._ Nicolas smiled to himself._ We have been killed, infected, and eaten, but we will not give in. We will fight to the end, making our last stand smashing in zombie heads_

"Nicolas?" he heard being whispered quietly, recognizing it as Cassie.

"One sec! I'm not decent!" he quickly found his shirt and threw it on before calling her in.

"Not having a shirt on is still decent." She said with a smirk. She had peeked inside quickly when she first walked up to make sure he was awake. She was wearing a grey t-shirt, cow pajama bottoms, and she was barefoot.

"To other guys, but I would rather wear a shirt." He said, sitting back down on the sofa and inviting her beside him.

"Well that's opposite of most guys." She smiled.

"Yeah, well there not much to see." He said flatly, she realized he was a little self conscious about it and quickly ended the conversation.

"What can I help you with?" Nicolas said.

"Can I ask you something?" Cassie asked a little shyly.

"You can ask me anything." He answered sincerely, smiling.

"About today..." she said, and he instantly knew what she was talking about.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to talk about it." She looked at him and nodded slowly.

"I lost a good friend last year. The best treatment for hard emotions is just to talk it out." He added.

Nicolas looked up to the roof solemnly; he kissed two of his fingers and raised them up. He had done this every night for the last year, saying goodbye to his friend.

"Take care of our little guy." He added in a whisper, which he did rarely. He looked down and his eyes started to water. He forced his emotions away and looked towards her.

"Nic, thank you, I didn't know how you did it. He had me at knife point, but we walked out safe and he walked out nearly dead."

"The only reason I didn't try that sooner is because I needed to know more about him. I figured out one of his major flaws, and acted upon it."

"Nicolas... You didn't look, did you?" she asked. At first he was confused, but then he understood.

"No! Gosh Cassie, of course not!" She smiled and let out a sigh of relief, it had been bugging her slightly.

"Cassie, I would never look at you like that." He said. He thought it would be comforting but he could tell she sounded disappointed at the statement.

"Unless you let me?" He said it almost like a question, still not knowing what he did wrong. Luckily she smiled at this.

"I just..." She looked down and put her arms over her breasts; Nicolas could tell what she was thinking. He gave her a second to say anything more.

"Just the way he... I'm just glad you ended it before he could actually rape me..."

"Did that happen the first time?"

"No, I got away. I'm sorry you had to deal with him Nicolas. The way he talked about you-"

"That's no problem Cassie! Take a look at me; I don't think that was a big secret." Although it had surprised her, she didn't say anything.

"Does anything hurt?" Nicolas asked, but regretted it. It would probably spur a rather awkward conversation. He blinked once and focused. There was no awkward anymore, it was time to act like an adult.

"My cheek." She placed a hand on the exact place he had hit her.

"And my... breasts still hurt; lots." She held them protectively again. Guys didn't understand, they _really_ hurt. He had attacked them they were still sore now even though it happened hours ago.

"Was he, err, rough?" He asked, Cassoe looked at him strangely confused at his attempt to comfort her.

"Yes, he practically attacked them, they are very sore."

"Well there's nothing I can do about that." He added a lighthearted joke

"Yes there is." She added seductively. Nicolas looked at her strangely for a second before he realized she was kidding.

"Nic... do you mind if I-"

"Of course not." He said sincerely. Although he didn't know what she was offering he wanted to help her in any way possible. Cassie curled up into a ball and gently rested her head on Nicolas's lap. Before she fell asleep, he put his legs up in a comfortable sleeping position.

He rested his left hand on her shoulder and gently played with her hair. He grabbed a blanket from behind him and rested it over top of her.

When he couldn't sleep he just sat there and watched Cassie sleep. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. Her skin looked soft and smooth, her hair was silky, and her breathing was so cute. Her small mouth let out little breaths, almost the way a kitten would breathe.

Cassie would have stayed awake all night because of the incident. But beside Nicolas, she instantly felt safe. The way he had threatened the thug had reaffirmed her that he really cared for her, that he wanted to protect her. She felt so comfortable around him, he was so perfect, she couldn't describe the feeling. She easily drifted to sleep on his lap.

000

Eric sat in his room, quietly strumming his guitar. He ran his fingers over the strings and a flurry of notes came off. He slowly sang,

"_This is a sign of the times_

_Another mountain to climb_

_The sun burns as hot as the flame in the devil's eyes_."

As the final note came off the instrument, he set it under his bed and went to sleep.


	11. He's a lady!

If you didn't know, nearly all character appearances are on my profile! Check them out, you won't regret it!

_BEEP!_

Nicolas shot awake and looked all over. Where was he?

_This strange place... on a couch... with a-_ He looked across the couch. _Girl?__ That was about the last thing he expected to see laying beside him._

_BEEP!_

It all hit him, he knew where he was and who she was, but the noise?

_BEEP!_

It didn't beep again; Nicolas figured it must have been the dryer. After all of the blood and guts, everyone's clothes needed a good cleaning. Luckily, there were plenty of extra clothes here. They may be too large and Cassie's parents, but they would have to do for the night.

Even in the dark, he noticed Cassie wasn't on his lap anymore. She had turned around to rest her head on the other end of the couch. Her body desperately clung to the flimsy blanket as it was nearly falling off of her. Nicolas slowly got up and covered her with the light blanket. He couldn't get back to sleep, so he satisfied himself with a short walk around the apartment. He stopped before the curtain-covered balcony.

_Should I? Do I really want to see the fate of Montreal?_ _What this hell has done to the great city? _He pondered for a moment. He decided he needed to know, and flung aside the curtain and glad door, closing it behind him.

He could feel a shiver go right down to his bones, but it wasn't from the cold night.

Montréal was a wasteland. Smoke clouded out the sun, small fires burnt everywhere, giving off small amounts of light like hot embers. The night itself seemed to move. In the dull blackness, you could still see the things that never slept, moving in hordes. They shifted like the tide, moaning in an endless chorus. How could they be expected to survive against this?

Nicolas casually turned the other way and leaned against the railing.

Because they were young.

They were ignorant, and that was there advantage. They thought they were invincible, that they could soar if they would just try to fly.

_We are young, but we have heart. Born into this world as it falls apart._

He chuckled to himself as he accidentally quoted Hollywood Undead.

He began singing quietly to himself.

_"Hear us whisper in the dark; in the rain you see the spark.  
Feel the beating of our hearts fleeting hope as we depart.  
__All together, walk alone against all we've ever known:_  
_All we've ever really wanted was a place to call our home._  
_But you take all we are; the innocence of our hearts!_  
_Made to kneel before the altar as you tear us apart!__"_He caught himself raising his voice as he got into it, so he quickly stopped and went back inside.

000

"Ugh..." Natasha covered the sunlight with her hand. Morning had to be the single worst feeling ever.

She turned to find Sora sleeping like a rock. She got up and closed the curtains for her sake.

_We'll I'm up now, the hard part is done. Something to drink sounds in order._

She quietly tiptoed in the room, but it didn't really matter; Sora slept like a rock. Last night, Natasha had accidentally knocked over a large lamp, making loads of noise. Sky had snored the entire time.

She strolled into the kitchen and was surprised to find Leo and Nicolas already awake. Here she was, wearing a ripped t-shirt and shorts with her hair everywhere! She probably looked like a mess!

"Um, er, hey guys. Didn't expect you awake Leon." She said awkwardly, desperately flattening her hair.

"Leo." He corrected sternly. He leaned against the stove while Nicolas sat down on the couch. Nicolas made a "Shhh" motion with his finger and pointed to Cassie sleeping. Natasha furrowed her eyebrows.

_She couldn't spend five minutes away from him! That, err, slut! She can't keep her arms off of him!_

She blinked once, surprised at her sudden mental outburst, she was lucky she didn't actually say it outloud. She was quickly distracted by a matter much more important.

"Food!"She breathed, throwing herself into the chair and opening up the pots and pans.

"Bacon, sausage and pancakes." Leo announced, Natasha just about cried.

"Leo, I love you man. You can cook for me anytime!" She said as she found a plate and utensils. Without hesitation she loaded up her plate so high it put the Rockies to shame.

"I guess I'll join you." Nicolas announced and sat beside her. It only took him one bite to be amazed.

"Leo!" he turned to him amazed. "This is amazing!"

"You sound surprised." Leo stated seriously. Nicolas's smile faded but Natasha took over.

"Don't be like that Leo!" She said jokingly, engulfing an entire sausage in one bite. "You know he didn't mean it like that."

"I thought a feast was in order now that no one is lost and everyone's safe." Leo explained solemnly.

"You don't need a reason to cook like this!" Nicolas complimented as he chomped down on pancakes. Leo smirked.

'You think so, eh? Then I think I might have to test it out." Leo sat down beside them and ate. It was silence for a long time as they ate, not wanting to ruin it with polite conversation. When Nicolas finished, he looked down in thought.

"Something up?" Natasha inquired as she finished herself.

"Goalie Pads". Nicolas decided.

"What?" Leo blurted out.

"I was asked last week, we were talking about his funereal." Nicolas spoke about it sadly, so no one inquired who. "About what you wanted to be buried with. He was buried with a cattle harness in one hand and his skates. I would want to be buried with my goalie pads."

"I've never bought a tux in my life, but when you go to meet god you gotta look nice." Leo joked. "You were a goalie?"

"Yup."

"You do realize goalies need REFLEXES." Leo shouted the last word and hurled a fork at Nicolas. Natasha gasped in surprise but Nicolas caught it in his left hand, right on the handle. Still without looking up he set it on the table. Nicolas leaned back and crossed his arms in satisfaction before he spoke.

"If you don't want me to_ catch_ something, don't throw it at my_ catcher_ hand." Nicolas said with a smirk. It wasn't very often that people got a chance to bug Leo, so he reveled in it. Leo huffed and leaned back.

Cassie let out a small _mew_ as she shuffled around on the couch.

"Looks like someone smelled the bacon." Nicolas said with a smile as she got up and stretched.

"Did someone say bacon!?" Sidney said excitedly as she came down the hall.

"Bacon is the _best_ alarm clock." Natasha joked as two more people joined them at the table. It was silence again as the newcomers tried Leo's food.

"I elect Leo as head chef." Sidney joked.

"I second that!" Natasha shouted, raising her hand

"All in favor?" Sidney asked. Leo rolled his eyes as everyone but him raised their hand.

"Any oppose?" Leo had his hand halfway in the air when Sidney cut him off abruptly. "Passed. Leo is officially the highest authority on cooking." Leo stormed off to find something to kick, amazingly not uttering a single curse. The second he was out of the room everyone burst out laughing.

"Sky and Eric?" Nicolas inquired as he got up to put his plates away.

"Both sleeping beauties." Sidney reported.

"I think we can let them get their beauty sleep." Nic said as he picked up everyone's plates. The first chance they got, everyone hit the couches, still half-asleep.

"Shouldn't we post a watch or something?" Leo suggested, still standing.

"I'm wide awake, get me a gun and I'll take first watch." Nicolas offered as he rose. Sidney went down the hallway and returned with her Remington.

"You know how to work a bolt action?" Sidney made sure as she handed him the large rifle.

"Yup. I've got my hunting license, but does that include zombies?" Nicolas joked as she passed him some magazines.

"Now it does." Leon answered darkly for her. Nicolas stole a chair and walked out to the balcony, closing the doors behind him.

He set up the chair and rested the gun on the railing. Lowering his face to look through the scope, he began to watch.

000

"Here's the crossbow, place it there." Eric handed it to Cassie, who set it on the floor below the other weapons. They had been going through all of the weapons they had.

"That makes 5 melee weapons, plus the crossbow makes three ranged." Eric pondered.

"Let's see what Leo has here."Eric smirked to himself as he picked up Leo's shotgun. Leo was taking a nap; otherwise he wouldn't dare lay a hand on it.

"Ahh, not bad Leo. A Benelli M4 Super 90." Eric raised it to his face and pointed it around the room.

"That's a nice gun you have there." Leo asked from behind Eric.

"Actually Leo it's not mine it's... Leo's" he lowered it slowly in realization when he raised the last word.

"I told you not to touch MY FUCKING GUN!"Leo jumped to tackle at him but Eric, after throwing the gun on the couch, skipped backwards and began to run away. Leo recovered and ran after him. Cassie could only watch as furniture, tables, and supplies were tossed to the side to give room for Eric to continue the chase.

"Stop running away!" Leo screamed and sped up.

000

"I'm so bored!" Natasha buried her face in her bed. She, Sidney, and the newly awakened Sora were all in the room. Sora was taking a hot shower. (No, no all-girl baths, sorry)

"What do people usually do when they're bored!?" Said Natasha as she flipped over. Sidney lounged on a large pile of pillows at the head of the bed.

"According to modern society; the implication of alcohol usually invokes a good time." Sidney put in, finger on her cheek in thought.

"Sidney!" Natasha chuckled as she sat up. "Even if we had some we are underage!"

"Do you honestly believe we will be prosecuted with the current state of government?" Sidney countered.

"What's everyone talking about!" Sora demanded jokingly, flopping beside Natasha. She only had a towel on and her hair was wrapped.

"I think Sidney wants to get hammered(Giggity XD)." Natasha said cautiously, wondering if she understood the genius girl's way of talking.

"No!" Sidney shot back defensively, blushing. "I err; mean I would like to try it(Giggity)."

"You've never drank before!" Sora accused, making Sidney feel awkward.

"Grant never let me; I'm only 16..." she trailed off shyly.

"Well that's about to change!" Sora ran off outside to do who know what while Natasha claimed the shower

"My age or my drinking virginity?" Sidney joked.

000

"Why are you so mad!? I didn't break it!" Eric demanded, grabbing a chair and throwing it in Leo's way. Leo didn't reply, he just snorted like a bull and hurdled over the obstacle.

"It must be in the bottom drawer..." Sora bent over in the before-empty kitchen in her towel and checked under the sink.

Eric soon occupied the kitchen, it was on his circuit, and stopped in his tracks.

There was Sky bending over in a _towel_.

"Oh dear god." Eric sat frozen as his pants suddenly became tighter. It was the perfect distraction for Leo to tackle him, football style.

"OOF!"

"YOU PERVE YOU WERE STARING UP MY TOWEL!" Sora accused and kicked him in the ribs while he was being held down.

"And you touched my shotgun!" Leo got on top of him (Giggity) and held him down.

"Seriously guys we can come to a civilized agreement." He begged.

_Thump!_

"Sora I didn't mean to!"

_Pow!_

"Okay Leo maybe I meant that but-"

_Thump! Pow! Kablam! Boom!_

"Sora what's taking you so long?" Sidney walked out with Natasha and demanded.

"I think she's kicking Eric's ass." Cassie commented from the couch, casually reading _Seventeen_ magazine.

"She is not!" Eric defended.

"Am so!"

"I think she is."

"Shut up Sidney!"

"Don't tell a girl to shut up!"

"I'll do what I want!"

_Thump_

"I think you've convinced him otherwise."

"Why does she hate you?"

"He looked up her towel."

"Eric!"

"What?"

"Would you guys shush!? I'm reading about a celebrity conspiracy!"

"Which one?"

"Apparently despite common knowledge, Justin Beiber is a guy!"

"Don't hate on Justin just because he is more successful than you!"

"Hitler was quite successful, should we not say bad things about him?"

"Justin's hot, Hitler's not."

"Tell that to Eva Braun."

Nicolas stormed inside to find nearly everyone beating up Eric and conversations about Hitler wife.

"Shut up now, would you! We'll all be eaten alive before you'll settle the argument!" He yelled, everyone stopped beating up Eric and looked down.

"What were you guys arguing about?" Nicolas had to ask out of curiosity.

"Is Justin beiber a girl?"

"He's not a girl, he's a lady." Nicolas corrected.

"Was Hitler attractive?"

"His friends called him Adolf Hipster." Nicolas joked.

"Here it is!" Sora finally found the alcohol and all the girls ran into their room, giggling.

"God help us. We are about to have four drunk girls, one protective shotgun owner, a battered pervert, (Hey!), and apparently a German Shepherd." Nicolas observed.

"Bark!" the dog jumped onto its hind legs, panting.

"How the hell did he get here?" Eric demanded, rubbing his bruises.

Nicolas looked out of a different balcony to see a completely intact fire exit that led to the open door.

"Oh! We should... probably knock that down, or something." Nicolas indicated the stairs, embarrassed.

"We can't knock it down, that would make too much noise." Leo said as if that was completely obvious.

"Well we need to do something; it's an open path right inside!" Eric said.

"Why don't we take out a section?" Nicolas offered and Leo and Eric agreed.

"Leo, grab your baseball bat. Nic, grab something you can swing." Eric ordered and hopped off of the balcony.

"Wait a minute..." Eric heard something, giggling. He followed the giggles and found the curtains slightly open to the girl's room.

"Oh this is too perfect..." he grabbed the fire exit with one hand and leaned out, looking inside.

"You're lucky! You're huge!" Sidney said to someone he couldn't see.

"Yeah, but look at your ass!" Natasha, he recognized her voice, said to Sky.

_Holy shit!_

Sora took a long draught of alcohol before answering.

"Guys care more about tits though!" Sora walking into view, showing she was wearing a _smoking_ hot Kimono. It was black and red and hugged her body perfectly. He swore she wasn't wearing a bra, because he thought he saw _something_ pushing against the fabric.

_Just a little farther!_

_Creak!_

The fire exit's railing broke and sent him flying forward. He desperately flailed his hands and caught the window sill. He danced around, looking for a footrest to put his feet on.

"Girls!" He begged. He wished he could have seen the look on their face. Talking about "woman parts" and finding a boy hanging on their windowsill.

Natasha looked out the window and saw him. Her face lit up in anger, she looked like she was about to gut him and then throw him to Them.

"Before you say anything-"

"You fucking pervert!"

"Is that Eric!?" Sidney screamed from inside. She took Natasha's place.

"Eric! God dammit!" She yelled, not knowing any words to describe her feeling.

"Just help me through, please!?" she answered by slamming his fist on his fingers, sending him down one story before landing on the next fire escape.

"Ow!" Eric screamed, on top of the bruises given to him by Leo, Sidney, Sora, Natasha, well pretty much everyone, now he fell down a building and landed on his arse.

He stumbled to his feet before hearing his new least-favorite noise.

_Creak!_

He started running up the Fire Escape as fast as he could; his heart skipped a beat when his back foot was suddenly standing on air. He jumped forward before looking back to see a complete section of the stairs gone, fallen to the floor. Leo and Nicolas met up with him a floor above.

"You're welcome!" Was all he said before running past them and into his room. With all the recent events it seems like doing anything at all either got him killed or slapped.

"Leo, can you take watch? My ankle is killing me."

"Fucking pansy..." Leo commented, but he relented and walked outside, taking the rifle with him.

Nicolas grunted before lowering himself on the couch, putting his foot on the coffee table. He had overdone it, he should have hardly moved today.

After setting his katana on the table, he went to an open room to relax.

"He's gone! Go!" all of the girls filed out of their room once he was gone. They were all wearing tank tops and either panties or pajama bottoms.

They all giggled as they gathered around the coffee table, until finally someone was courageous enough, Sidney, to pick up his sword.

They set up two water bottles on the counter.

"Slice them!" Sidney slowly took off the sheath and awkwardly swung it sideways, cutting a water bottle in half. The contents went all over Natasha, making her tank top a little bit more transparent.

"Do it again!" Sidney swung diagonally; she went through the bottle and jarred the counter.

"Did some pins fall out?" she raised the handle o her eye and inspected it; she had thought she saw something fall out. The girls kept encouraging her, so she forgot about it.

Sidney turned around, but she bumped the handle into a chair. She heard loose metal and saw the guard-thing was loose.

"Give it here! Don't hog it!" Natasha stole it from her and prepared to hit the last thing set up, a watermelon.

"No! Don't!" Sid called out, but it was no use. Natasha swung overhead, but about halfway down the blade flew out of the handle and went across the room, sticking into the front of the fridge.

"Oh my god!"

"You broke it!"

"He's gonna kill you!"

"That's all that he has left of his family!"

"I'm sorry okay!" Natasha was almost in tears. "I didn't mean to!"

"You have to go show him!"

"He doesn't need to know!"

"What happening in here?" Nicolas asked groggily. He strolled on scene with only sweats on and a towel over his shoulders. His breath caught in his throat as he saw all of the girls in tanktops and panties, with Natasha's bra very visible through the shirt.

All the girls stared at him like deer in headlights; Natasha had her hands behind her back.

"Is that my sword!?" Nicolas cried out, running past them. His towel fell off as he ran over and started going CSI on the fridge assault.

"How the fuck did you manage to get the handle off? And how did it get in our fridge?" He asked angrily, turning around.

All of the girls sat there with blank faces, but Natasha bent over and broke down.

"I'm sorry! I broke your sword!" Natasha bent her head in shame and held out the empty handle. Nicolas's face was the epitome of anger, he stared at them hardly. But slowly, his face lightened. His eyebrows lifted and the tips of his mouth. He even uttered a light chuckle.

"Bring it all to a room; let's see what we can do." He stated with a new smile. Everyone's jaws slackened as Natasha skipped over to Nicolas's room. There was silence for a moment before Cassie broke it.

"Did you see his chest!?" Cassie asked excitedly. "Not that I was looking!" She added quickly, blushing heavily.

"Cassie!" everyone crossed their arms and looked at her. "It looks like someone has a crush!"

"No..." Cassie blushed more and looked down.

"Misses fall asleep on his lap!" Sora commented as they all went into their room, happily followed by the dog.

"God I wish I was that dog..." Eric said with envy before he stuck his head back in his room and closed the door.

000

"Here, bring me the cross guard." Nicolas sat cross-legged on the bed in the girls, opposite Natasha. All of the pieces were set out before them.

"Here, and sorry, again." She blushed in embarrassment as she gave him the small metal peace. He slid it on carefully, securing it in place. Natasha reached down and grabbed her drink, taking a long draught while he was distracted.

"No problem, it's quite easy actually." He said with a smile. He carefully slid in each small pin. He was terrible at small tasks, so of course he dropped it onto the bed.

"I got it." They said simultaneously and both leaned forward for it. They looked up momentarily and realized their faces were less than an inch apart. They both shot back up, Natasha blushed and Nicolas rubbed the back of his neck.

"There, last one. Good as new." Nicolas smiled as he raised the sword, whole again.

"That's a relief." Natasha sighed.

"Don't worry; it's not worth that much to me. I, well, value it, but not as much as this." He reached into his jean pocket on the floor. He pulled out a simple gold ring on a silver chain.

"This was my grandfathers. He was barely alive n the hospital when he shoved it into my hand, I was only 7. I never saw him again." He said sadly, surprising Natasha with his sudden openness.

"I've lost others, I've learned how to handle it." He explained as he put the ring back in his pocket.

"Thanks for taking watch by the way. You just sat there for hours, like it was your duty. I feel alot safer now." She smiled and Nicolas acted like he hadn't heard it modestly.

"So did you girls have a good time?" he said with a smirk.

"Huh! Uh..." she blinked and looked down, trying to register her surroundings again.

"Are you drunk Natasha?" He squinted one eye a bit and smiled.

"Drunk? No! I'm so sober I put a rabbit to shame!" she smiled.

"We're really lucky." Natasha swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Huh?" Nicolas followed suit and shuffled beside her.

"To have you. I don't think we would be here if it weren't for you." She looked into his eyes and smiled. Nicolas snorted in disbelief and looked out the window.

"Yeah right, I've done nothing."

"Nicolas, you're a born leader." She placed a hand on his lap and looked at him, but he continued to study outside.

"You want to know my skill set Sasha? It's not athletic, it's not being smart, and it sure as hell isn't being a leader. I can write, that's all." After one look at him when he went into the kitchen, she highly doubted what he said about athletics, but she didn't say that.

"One sec, I'll go outside and grab a shirt." Natasha grabbed his elbow and pulled him back down.

"It doesn't matter to me." She said with a smile.

_Is she bugging me? What's that supposed to mean?_ Nicolas squinted for a second but sat down beside her.

"When you think about it isn't not that bad here. I'm stuck in an apocalypse with four girls." Natasha snorted.

"Lucky, you've got Sora and Sidney and Cassie. We've got to choose between Eric, Leo and..." She trailed off, looking straight in his eyes. Nicolas saw a single strand of her caramel hair out of place, falling on her forehead. He leaned forward and placed his hand on the side of her face, brushing it away with his thumb.

She placed a hand on his bar shoulder and pulled him in a little closer. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, tilting her head to the side to meet his. Nicolas sat frozen for a moment. Her face came closer to his, he saw every feature, her thick eyelashes, her smooth skin, her pursed red lips, her-. A split second before her lips reached his he realized what she was doing and shot back in surprise.

"Wait..." Natasha looked confused. 'Were you? Oh god, you were- I feel like such an idiot!" Natasha got up and walked around the room.

_I just met him! Why was I doing! I just thought he was... Ugh!_ Natasha grunted in frustration.

"I'm sorry! You just... surprised me." He sat back a little farther on his bed.

"I'm stupid! Stupid! Stupid! She stormed out of the room before he could stop her.

He layed back on the bed. She had tried to kiss him.

Natasha _fucking_ Glöckner had tried to kiss him.

Natasha Glockner. The ten-times-hotter-than-any-girl-he-knew Natasha Glöckner. He was so young and, well, just plain undesirable. He couldn't get the lowest girls in his school to get caught dead with him, and now smoking-hot Natasha had just come on to him.

Nicolas lay back on the bed.

_What the Fuck!?_


	12. Hay?

**Just a short chapter of drunken randomness, mostly just finishing off the last chapter. It's nothing towards the plot, so skip it if you want.**

"How did that dog get there?" Sora spotted him when she turned around halfway down the hallway. The German shepherd tilted its head sideways and panted. His nose and eyes were black, as well as a good portion of his back and the top of his tail. The rest of him was a beautiful caramel color.

"You're so tuuuuute!" Cassie leaped over and tackled him, wrapping her arms around him. "Look at your fur! It's so glossy!" She hugged it and nuzzled her cheek in its fur. Even though German Shepherds are known for their aggression, the dog simply sat there and let the small girl do her worst.

"He's surprisingly tame."Sidney noted.

"Sit!" She tested, the dog instantly sat down.

"Lay down!" the dog tilted its head sideways.

"Well it was fun while it lasted (Giggity), where did Eric disappear to?" Sora inquired. "I think it's about time we teased him, considering his recent attitude toward us." She added with an evil smile. The girls all got their drinks and headed over to Eric's room, pressing against the door.

"One... Two..." they counted.

"_Why give up, why give in?_" they stopped counting and pressed their ears to the door.

"_It's not enough, it never is. So I will go on until the end. We've become desolate. It's not enough, it never is. But I will go on until the end._" They all looked at each other in bewilderment; Eric had to have his music. Their drunkenness soon lost interest, and they all burst into his room.

"_Eeeeerrrriiiiiiic!_" Sora chanted and fell on the bed beside him. He quickly threw his guitar under his bed and turned around.

'Oh! Um, hey girls. Shouldn't yoouu..." he trailed off, suddenly not interested in what he was saying. All of the girls were wearing tank tops and panties. Sora motioned Cassie over and quickly whispered something in her ear.

"Sky!" she recoiled back and blushed heavily, while Sora just started giggling her head off.

"Eric! Guess what" She attacked him from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck, shoving her mouth into his ear.

"_I shower naked_." She whispered seductively before bursting out laughing and running away. Eric raised an eyebrow and looked around.

"Leo! I'm taking your place!" He announced quickly and ran past the girls. Cassie and Sidney eagerly followed the action to the living room/kitchen.

Leo heard him and waited for him on the balcony, passing him the gun. He walked back into the kitchen to e tackled by Sora.

She wrestled him to a wrestling position, yelling, "I have defeated the King! Now I am Queen! Bow before me servants!" She looked around at the two girls and Eric just watching her.

"Traitors!" She got up and put her hands on her hips. Leo got up, rubbing his now sore spots.

"You there!" she caught Leo by surprise and tackled him on his hands and knees, climbing on his back. "Piggy back! Now!"

"Sora I'm not going to-"

"Now!"

"_Neeeeigh!"_ She rode him laughing around the room. Natasha ran by, looking quite flustered.

"Hey Sasha!" Sky raised one hand in the air as Leo reared. After more of this, Leo finally twisted his body and bucked, sending Sky sprawling.

Nicolas walked out of the same room as Natasha slowly, looking very confused and rubbing the back of his neck.

Nicolas walked out of the room to fins Sora spread eagle, in her _panties_. He quickly covered it with his hand and looked away

"Nice to see you too Sky." He commented sarcastically.

"Hey Nic!" she lifted her head so she could see him. "Have you noticed a few people like you!" She got up and pushed him into the wall, and then ran away giggling like a madman. Portably due to her comment, Cassie casually stuck out her foot and tripped her, sending her head over heels.

"How much has she had to drink?" Nicolas pointed at her with his thumb as he walked over to the ouches.

"Too much; she's passed out." Sidney answered as she studied Sora's sprawling form.

"I got her." Leo volunteered, picking her up wedding-style.

"So Nic..." Sidney giggled and walked over to Nicolas, who was trying to fall asleep on the couches. She placed her hands on her thighs and bent forward, facing him.

"What were you and Natasha doing?" she smirked. Nicolas forcefully pried his attention from her visible, jiggling cleavage.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He turned the other way and stuffed his face with a pillow.

"You don't sound very convincing!" She giggled and sat down beside him

"Can you tell me? I won't tell! Pretty please! Just for me... I'd be soooo thankful" she did her best puppy dog persuasion, adding in the last part for his imagination to fill it in.

"Nothing." He said with some reluctance. She snuggled closer and rapped her arms around his neck.

"Pweeeeeez?" Nicolas sighed.

"Ask her, if she wants to tell you she will." He said, annoyed.

"Thanks!" she pecked him on the cheek and ran off.

"Eric is gonna fucking kill me." He shook his head and tried to fall asleep on that happy thought.

000

"And stay out!' Sidney and Cassie hit the opposite wall as Natasha kicked them out.

"Well she really wanted to talk about it." Sidney walked away slowly, if she got kicked out of her room where would she sleep?

"She didn't have to be so violent." Cassie rubbed her sore skull.

"Jump!" The girls peeked into the kitchen, curious.

"Ajax, attack!" Leo ordered the German shepherd, pointing towards a shirt on a stand. The dog leapt up and knocked it down before eagerly tearing it apart.

"You'll do boy. You'll do just fine." Leo squatted down and the dog instantly ran over to him, Leo gave it eager praise.

"Dog whisperer much?" Sora giggled as she walked in, followed by Cassie.

"Turns out he's police trained, of all the luck in the world."

"You seem to know alot about dogs." Sidney observed as she sat on the top of a couch."

"My Mom watched lots of dog whisperer..." he mumbled.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you!"

"My mom watched lots of Dog Whisperer!" He yelled and ran off, leaving the two girls giggling their heads off.

"What did Natasha tell you?" Nicolas asked from the couch.

"She used some very descriptive language and booted us out." Cassie said quietly. Nicolas sighed. He didn't want secrets within the group, but he didn't know how telling them would affect what Natasha thought of him.

"She helped me fix my sword. We talked for a bit, and she misread a signal." Both girls leaned in close, interested; although Cassie looked slightly angry. "That's all, tell Natasha and she'll probably tear out your liver." The girls smiled but nodded.

"Lips are sealed." Cassie zipped her lips together and kept them closed.

"If Natasha kicked you girls out, where will you sleep? Nicolas asked suddenly. Cassie unzipped her mouth to speak.

"I was wondering about that, Sora?" Cassie turned towards her.

"No matter, you guys can have the couches, I'll take the seat." Nicolas sighed in sacrifice, that was a really comfy couch.

"Thanks Nic!" They said together, Cassie hugged him and Sky claimed the couch.

"Goodnight, you all must be really tiered, so hit the hay." Nicolas reached over and shut off the lights.

'Hit the hay?" Cassie inquired. She squished the couch cushion to see if it was made of hay.

"A saying on the prairie's, beds were made of hay in the old days." Nicolas smiled, although no one could see it. He rested the katana against the coffee table so he could grab it quick and threw the blanket over him.


	13. Zoo for Two! Part 1

_**If you didn't know, nearly all character appearances are on my profile! Check them out, you won't regret it!**_

**Note #2: If you see a mistake and you plan to review, PLEASE copy it an put it in the review, or PM it to me. It's not that hard and it makes my job 546 times easier!**

The next three days passed quickly. They never left the apartment, but they always posted as watchman. The recent zombie activity had been scarily slow. Everyone knew why, but it still horrified them. The undead were obviously finding more and more human flesh to eat, so they didn't have to stumble around and look for more food.

Eric taught everyone how to load, shoot and handle a gun, so soon even the girls were taking their turns on watch. Of course, Sidney's rifle was passed around. Leo had convinced everyone by making an example of Eric; hardly anyone even breathed on Leo's shotgun.

Even with the long nights of mourning in his room with Sidney, Eric was not his usual self. He didn't joke as much, he barely used sarcasm, and the most shocking, he barely stared at the girls breasts. Sidney had talked to them all; explaining him and Grant were close, and that he just needed a bit of a wake-up call.

After that long, drunken night (Followed by a horrifying hangover morning), the girls never did figure out what happened between Nic and Sasha. Sasha tore a strip off of him for telling them he did, and eventually swore him to secrecy.

Leo trained Ajax on every spare moment. The dog turned out to be very protective; he wouldn't let anyone approach Leo and wouldn't accept praise from anyone but its new master. It was very obvious he was police trained; it took on to Leo's style of training with little difficulty. With a single word he could attack, hold, heel, sit, lie down, speak, and stay.

The condition outside didn't look good. The lookouts rarely saw survivors, or zombies on that part, all the TV stations were all down, there was barely a sign that there were other people out there.

Some things were learnt about people. First of all, Cassie never thought it would be very important to mention that she had taken advanced medicine courses, or that her family had a huge, walled mansion in Toronto. Second, Leo loved to watch Dog Whisperers, and was excellent at it. He was like a whisperer in training, a Dog Talker if you will.

Nicolas spent most of his time either in bed or training with his katana. He could barely hold a gun, so he was betting on it as a last resort. Nicolas spent more time with Cassie lately. She always insisted on checking his ankle and Natasha was still grumpy with him, so they talked lots. Thanks to her, at the end of the three days, he could walk alone almost comfortably.

"I'll say Nicolas, you healed up fast!" Cassie commented as she helped him up off his bed. The morning sun had just woken him up soon followed by Cassie to come check on his ankle.

"I think I'm fine actually." Nicolas said, pulling away from Cassie and walking on his own. Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, but let him.

"As long as you don't feel _any_ pain, don't push yourself." She warned, he nodded with a smile and entered the main area.

"If you eat buns and chocolate bars." Cassie heard Natasha say.

"You think Elvis Stojko looked better with hockey hair." Eric said with his recently-lacking smirk, gaining a laugh from everyone.

"What are we talking about?" Nicolas lowered himself into a kitchen chair with only a slight wince.

"You know you're Canadian if..." Sidney trailed off. She sat at the table with Eric; Natasha sat on the sofa and Leo, as usual, stood.

"You know what a sweeper does in curling." Leo finished for her.

"You use hockey tape to fix... Everything." Nicolas threw in a Saskatchewan point of view. He always carried hockey tape, on or off the field. Heck, he had left his track apartment with one; he had one in his pocket right now. It was like Canadian-ified Duct Tape.

"You wear a toque."

"You tell Newfie jokes."

"You know that 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes.'"

"You've ordered poutine at McDonalds."

"You've never ridden a moose."

"Or built an igloo."

"And don't say a-boot or sore-y."

"You don't know what the big deal is about Cuba."

"You believe back bacon and Kraft Dinner _are_ real food groups."

"You go to Niagara Falls and scoff at how pathetic the American Falls are."

"You've plugged a car in overnight." Nicolas said, completely serious. Honest to god, in Saskatchewan, you get -35 weather and +35 weather, it seems crazy but it's true.

"You can play road hockey with skates on." Leo cleared his throat once, and then came out with a huge stream of them.

"Your municipality buys a Zamboni before it buys a bus, you only burn your bra when you're out of wood, you measure distance in hours, you yell "Patio Weather!" when the temperature rises to 0, you carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them, There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot of your neighborhood Tim Horton's at any given time, summertime is when you switch your toque for a ballcap, you own an ice auger, you have a "good" parka for formal occasions, the trunk of your car has doubled as a deep freeze, you think the Hockey Night in Canada theme song should be the National Anthem and finally you consider beer under 6 percent to be for children and the elderly." Leo panted for breath as everyone stared at Leo in awe.

"What?" He demanded as if _they_ were the crazy ones. "Canadian jokes are the rage in my neighborhood."

Leo's cell phone suddenly rang.

"What?! How did it get through?" Natasha yelled in surprise. Leo picked it up, _Unknown Number._

"Hello?"

"_Leo! It's Sora! I need help ASAP! Find me at the-"_Her voice was replaced by a crackling noise.

"Sora! Sky!"

"_At the-_"The static returned with something that sounded like a roar.

"Where!?"

"_North Zoo_!" Sora scrambled out before the line went dead.

"What happened!?" Natasha and Nicolas demanded.

"Sora took a trip to the zoo!" Leo said angrily before getting up to find something to kick.

"Let's go guys, we will have to explain on the way." Nicolas turned to Eric and said.

'You sure like to save explanations." Eric grumbled as he got up and took his white cargo jacket off of the back of a chair. Usually he was much wittier and that comment was pretty weak, Nicolas hoped fatigue was holding down the Eric everyone loved.

He went to the dryer and grabbed everyone's clothes, dropping them off in their respectful rooms he went into the bathroom to change into his jeans, t-shirt and v-neck.

He walked out and went to the living room to find Cassie ready. He noticed she was wearing the clothes she had grabbed at Cabela's, a tank top and Yoga pants.

"Change of outfit?" he asked as he walked around her to get his katana.

"Alot easier to move in." she said with her usual giggle.

_At least one of us is back to normal._ He thought, indicating the incident, still worrying about Eric. He lifted the katana over his head and worked the strap so it was tight.

Eric walked down the hall ready for war. His machete was sheathed at his belt, his quiver hung down his thigh and his new crossbow was over his shoulder. Add his badass Kung-fu on that and he could send any zombie crying for its mommy. Sidney was beside him with her axe in her hands and her rifle over her shoulder.

Natasha approached from behind him with her SAP gloves on and Sora's tomahawk at her belt. Leo walked out from nowhere with his shotgun in his hands and he modified his bat so it fit on his belt.

"Well that was quick, we need to head out!" Leo ordered and everyone, including Ajax, followed. Nicolas pressed the elevator button, and today, unlike the first day, it worked. They all piled in and the door closed behind them

There they were with bats, rifles, shotguns, swords, axes, machetes and more sticking out in every direction, waiting in an elevator with jazz music playing.

It finally opened and they all piled into the truck. Since they didn't have Sora nobody had to double up. Ajax happily hopped into the box. As they pulled out of the underground parking, he put his paws up on the edge of the box and panted happily in the wind.

Nicolas shifted uncomfortably as Natasha and Cassie pressed on him from both sides.

"You know where it is?" He asked Leo, who was the truck's self-appointed driver.

"I grew up here." He said gruffly and Nicolas asked no more questions.

"How that crossbow Eric?" He tried to make conversation with Eric.

"It's cool..." He said quietly.

"If you want conversation talk to Cassie, apparently you two get along." Natasha said quietly, only loud enough for him to hear. Nicolas stepped on her foot slightly to tell her to shut up.

"Zombie!" Sidney called out as one stepped out onto the road. Leo paid it no heed, if anything he sped up to run into it.

"If that was a game it would be fun!" Cassie called out and began to play by herself.

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"Zombie!"

"SHUT UP!" Leo and Eric yelled in unison, making her shy back into her seat.

"Cassie, do you want a weapon?" Sidney asked, trying to cheer her up.

"I don't know, but zombie killing looks kind of fun!" She said with a giggle

"If dancing on a string between death and eternal infection is your idea of fun, then yeah it's entertaining as fuck." Leo said darkly.

"He's right Cassie," Sidney said, acting very much like an older sister. "But you'll be safer with one."

"We'll find you a shovel or something." Natasha put in.

"Finally!" Nicolas saw the sign for the zoo. Leo parked up front in a handicap space (rebel) and we all filed out. Technically he is a double rebel, since he parked sideways and took up 3 parking places.

The entrance was a metal fence that was easy to climb. The boys went first (pants catch less wind than a skirt if you know what I mean) and the girls were close behind.

"Did she say where she was?" Sidney asked as she loaded her rifle.

"No, just that she was here."

"Try calling her again." Eric suggested. Leo tried again, but it went straight to the answering machine.

"Dead." He said simply. Eric loaded his crossbow and pulled back the bolt. They slowly inched through the zoo. It was pretty impressive, but that didn't help them. The habitat's rose up to the top of the dome the zoo was in, blocking off any sights outside of the zoo. You could only see things on the path in front of you, nothing more. Exhibit they passed by was empty, the only exception being a monkey happily swinging on overgrown vines.

"Where do you think the animals went?" Natasha asked

"Out. If the keepers didn't feed them they probably looked for other animals to eat. Keep your eyes open." Leo warned.

A low rumble was heard. Everyone looked around, automatically forming a small circle. They were at the middle of a crossroads, so it could be from four different directions.

"What was that?" Cassie asked fearfully. The rumble escalated to a feral shout as a leopard pounced down from on top of an exhibit. Everyone backed up and people raised there weapons, but they had to take a moment to look at it.

The leopard was a zombie.

Its fur was patchy, grey, and pale, with many bald spots showing grey skin. Its eyes were pure white, making it look like a ghastly phantom. Its body still seemed as strong as its life as it flexed them in a huge roar.

"Run! Don't let it touch you!" Nicolas screamed, running down the nearest path. He started taking every corner possible, knowing leopards could run something like 80k in a straight line.

_Or was that a jaguar? Cheetah? Doesn't matter, run!_

He started having to plan his routes ahead of time; making sure he didn't take a turn to late and stumble into an exhibit. The path suddenly opened up into a non-habitat section, with shops and a restaurant. He picked out a path and sped up.

He jumped onto a table at the restaurant on his left foot, pushing off and landing his right on a stack of chairs. They shook as he released and flung out his hands, desperately grabbing at the grass roof. (Palapa? What's the word for those building, like that you see on vacation?)

He slowly slid down as any grass he grabbed on just got pulled out. He pushed down on the roof and swung his legs around. He climbed up a couple steps and sat down, catching his breath. Turns out he wasn't being chased.

"Um, help?" He saw small hands grasping at the edge of the roof; looking down he saw Sidney.

"I've never been so happy to see you." He smiled as he easily lifted her up on the roof with him.

"Did you follow me?" he asked, curious.

"Yeah, barely. You took too many turns, I nearly lost you."

"Was that thing chasing us?"

"Didn't see him." She said blandly. Nicolas looked over her.

"Drop your axe."

"What?"

"Your axe. It's too heavy, you need to drop it."

"But I need it." She let a little emotion slip through her usual wall; showing attachment to the weapon.

"Here." Nicolas raised his bum off of the roof and pulled the hunting knife out, handing it to Sidney. "Is that good enough?"

"Thanks." She dropped the axe on the concrete without thinking, it landed metal end first and made a loud _crack_.

"Shit." She inherited a little swearing from Eric.

"Load that." He ordered as he stood up and pulled out his Katana." Every zombie animal in a 100 meter radius would be headed our way, be prepared for everything from a giraffe to a ram." They lowered themselves on the roof and made sure not a single sound was made.

Nicolas pointed out a large zombie baboon slowly walk onto the scene. He was the same as the leopard. His fur was barely, on one of his arms was barely on it was eaten so much, and its eyes were a ghostly white .It seemed like they could handle one monkey, but two hopped down form seemingly nowhere. Soon they were coming out of everywhere, seemingly waiting for the signal.

"Don't make a move." Nic said slowly. The largest baboon raised its snout in the air, sniffed twice and turned towards them, screeching like a banshee.

You think baboons are harmless? Google one of them baring its teeth. They're like three inches long and sharp, they screamed and bound around everywhere, the roof didn't help the pair at all.

Sidney desperately tried to shoot at them, but they were too fast. The swarm of grey-black fur and death easily climbed onto the roof. They bounced around the roof, jumping up and down, all of them joining their banshee-cry into the cacophony.

They all stopped suddenly, as if practiced, as their lead male walked up to Nicolas. He stood on his hind legs bared its teeth, a challenge. The twenty plus monkeys sat there, silently baring their teeth behind their leader.

"Get ready..." Nicolas breathed.

He swung and took the top half of its skull off, and then it began.

000

Eric was the human personification of a honey badger. To stand there and take out your machete, face to face with a fucking zombie leopard takes balls.

Eric dropped his quiver and crossbow to move easier. He slowly passed his machete from hand to hand and circled around the jaguar/leopard/cheetah/oh whatever; he didn't care.

"Tired of this fucking infection..." Eric muttered. The jaguar's eyes followed him and occasionally it bared its teeth. "Tired of fucking zombies..." Eric stopped passing his blade and kept it in his strong hand. "Tired of all this shit!" Eric snapped and charged the animal.

The leopard jumped at him, but he turned to the side and swung his machete down its side, scoring a hit.

It turned and pounced again, recovering quickly. Eric ducked under it but the cheetah sprung off of the wall and onto his back.

Eric punched, shook and attacked it with all of his might but it would not move. As it was about to see how Eric's shoulder tasted, Eric somersaulted and sent it flying into a wall.

The grappling continued. It was obvious the Leopard had the advantage, but Eric was determined. The cat was smarter than it looked, it would jump off of walls and try to back Eric into a corner. The boy knew he was tiring, and the cat only seemed to get stronger. He needed to end this.

Eric swung his machete in X's in front of him continuously before swinging his foot around and doing some Karate moves, confusing the feline.

The cat pounced but he Sparta-kicked it in the snout, sending it flying.

"HOW'D YOU LIKE THAT FUCKER!?" Eric screamed at the top of his lungs. The cat didn't land on its feet, but it was soon back on them. It stalked Eric slowly, moving side to side and not giving him any chance of tracking him. Out of nowhere, the cat pounced, sending its heavy weight down on Eric.

He thrust up his hands and barely stopped the jaguar from snapping his face off. He put both of his thumbs past the last molar of the cheetah. The leopard's neck muscles pulled and its veins became visible and he drew towards Eric with all of its strength.

The snapping jaws of the predator leaned ever closer to Eric's face, so he had to resort to desperate measures.

_Thump._

Eric's booted toe struck between the back legs of the cheetah and it screamed an unearthly cry of pain.

_Thank god it was a boy._

He kicked the animal off of him and backed up... into a wall.

_Shit._

The cat got on its feet and pounced, sending both of them through the thin wooden wall. Eric raised his hands and caught his paws in them, easing the fall slightly.

Cassie scurried out of her hiding place in tears. The fight's danger had kept her too scared to reveal herself, she didn't want to distract Eric or get attacked by the animal.

But now... Eric was dead. She could see the cheetah move now through the hole in the wall, slowly moving and getting up.

The jaguar spasmed several times, and then rolled off of Eric, who kicked it to the side.

"They say they have nine lives, so I guess this one was a little low on them." Eric joked casually as he dusted himself off. Although the joke really made no sense, she didn't care. He was alive, that's what mattered.

"Eric!" Cassie ran over and nearly tackled him.

"Oh! Hi Cassie!" Eric had never noticed her. Cassie pulled away and backed up.

"Is it dead?"

"Yes, I pretty much gutted it." He said proudly. His friends, well, there dead now, but they would be so jealous. Eric bet none of them ever went in hand-to-hand combat with a crazy zombie leopard/cheetah/jaguar/panther thing with only a machete.

"Are you still mad?" she asked quietly. She had never seen him like that, the yelling, the swearing, the anger; it scared her to ever get him frustrated. Eric saw this and instantly felt bad. Nobody with half a heart would want to make Cassie cry, she was like a puppy. Except human. And she didn't chew things, and maybe the puppy is a little smarter, and Cassie is housetrained. Ok there just alike in their cuteness.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. I just, let it all out. With all the stuff that has been happening, that thing was kind of my punching bag." He explained and Cassie did a small nod.

"But forget that, let's find everyone else" he looked around to see everyone had ditched.

They slowly took the path that lay straight ahead, again finding all of the habitat's empty.

"It haunts me that they have all escaped. I expect them around every corner." Eric said slowly, before he was actually right.

He turned the corner to find a small pride of lions lazing around.

"Don't move." He stuck his arm out and Cassie walked right into it... at boob level. The lions stared right at them, so Cassie had to stay with her breasts awkwardly squishing against Eric's hands and arm.

The male got up; he looked three times as fierce as the jaguar.

His eyes and teeth pure white, he shook his shaggy grey mane, but the fiercest thing about him was how stocky he was. He was 4 times as thick as the cheetah; a single swat of his paw would send Eric, who was 6' 3, flying.

The lion lowered its head and growled, taking mercy on the intruders and giving them a warning. Eric realized the bite mark on its arm, the animal was nearly undead. It was bitten, but was determined to defend his living females from the zombies until the end. In a strange way, Eric felt grudging respect for the animal.

Nevertheless, they both scuttled away and back to where they came.

"We need a safe place." Eric said, but Cassie didn't hear it, he realized she was crying. He quickly found a small storage building and huddled inside.

"What's wrong?" he said quickly, lowering to her level as she sat.

"I'm sorry, I know you didn't mean to."

"I don't understand." Eric said stupidly. Cassie suddenly realized he wasn't there when it had happened.

"In the store, a man just about raped me." She sniffed loudly and wiped her tears with her arm. "But Nicolas stopped him; he tackled him and cut off his hand." Eric suddenly realized why Nicolas had told him not to be a pervert, which he had never actually explained; it might remind Cassie of the incident.

"Cassie, I feel so bad." As he tried to comfort he grief, her suddenly found himself overcome by his

He would never see his brother again. Good Ol' Grant was a zombie. Laughing, joking, playful Grant was eaten alive. If Grant saw him, he wouldn't know he was his brother.

Grant was gone. _Gone._

He would never be there to tackle him ad wrestle him to the floor the second he got home. He was forever removed from his life. Forever. There was no chance of him ever giving his brother a hug ever again.

A single tear clinked against the stone floor.


	14. Important News, Please Read

**Bad news**

Sadly, I will not update this story for some while. We have all been there, Exams. -_- the very word makes you want to kick something, or just go Junior-sama on everything around you. Because of the Devils-spawn stacks of paper, events planned by procrastinators, and studying, I will not start updating this story until Exams are done. So, give me about 1.5-2 weeks and ill be back on track.

Want a Character to appear in my story, but missed the cut? Me and EpicEric17's story (Day of the Damned) will be crossing over at a later point. Check out his story and send in an OC!

This seems a little short, so I'll put in some acknowledgments.

Thanks to **newyorkgirl112** for making an awesome form (that I used, thanks for that too) and inspiring me to start the story!

Thank you **Junior-sama** for writing reviews that make me piss myself laughing and sending in the very first submission! (And also setting my new record for number of PM's in one conversation)

**EpicEric17** is deserving of the title Epic, mostly for never stopping encouraging me or sending me piles of ideas, all day, every day. Most committed guy ever.

**VengefulBiscuit**, for being a grammar Nazi. He has been by far the best contributor for sharpening my chapters and my witting skills; he's the best Beta anyone could have. (And also getting me into the anime Fairy Tale!)

**Hieikag** is just plain amazing for helping me establish the story beginning, and for helping me with Natasha's parts, which she can defiantly do better than me

**XDreamKillerX **for thinking Trojans are cute, entertaining a fellow insomniac, getting me hooked on a hilarious story (yes, that one!), coming up with addictive couple names, helping me through the chapter processes, and just giving awesome criticism

**B-Rabbit2Alice** for being so in-depth with her character, coming up with the funniest drunk scenes, and putting interactions between her and my characters in her PM's

Give these guys a PM, they're all pretty awesome!

**Junior-sama**-Leon

**VengefulBiscuit**-Cassie

**EpicEric17**-Erickson, Sidney

**Hieikag**-Natasha

**B-Rabbit2Alice**-Sora

Thanks to all other supporters! Nameless or named, here are ones I could find:  
- **xslash3dx1**

- **nightsky44**

- Some random guy named **Guest**, can't find him for some reason

-**Carolina Angel**

**-duskrider**

**-MerkQueens**

**-MrAnimefanman**

**-jelly on this hot god**

**Thanks to all of you for submitting and all of your continued support!**


	15. Zoo for Two! Part 2 Sneak Peek

Leo's shotgun blew open the torso of the zombie directly ahead of him. Ajax sprinted towards Leo, making him duck sideways so the large dog could pounce on the Thing closing in on him from behind. He layed down his shotgun and pulled out his bat, smiling evilly. He twirled it in one full rotation before catching it and clobbering the zombie on the ground.

"God dammit it's good to have Zombie blood on my bat again after a whole month." Leo slowly raised his head towards the camera and winked.

**Readers! Hey, I'm back! What have you been doing during my absence? How did it go? You know, that... thing you were doing before, yes that, of course! Well that's good to hear, unless if it's going terrible I apologize. I'm going on a short trip, so I'll give you the first part of the long-awaited chapter to satisfy your reading hunger. Enough stalling, feast your eyes upon this sneak peek!**

**(\(\**

**o_(")(")**

**Whoops, not the bunny text art, this!**

Inhuman cries could be heard behind Natasha. Jaguar, man, it was jumbled into a huge chorus of pain and adrenaline to the point where she couldn't tell between the two. Whoever it was, Nicolas, Eric, Leo and Ajax, she sure hoped they knew what they were doing.

_How could they know what they're doing? You don't exactly take Z-leopard defense classes in school._ Natasha squinted her eyes and forcibly shook her head. They had gotten this far, a z-leopard/panther/cheetah/jaguar wasn't going to ruin their day.

"_How'd you like that fucker_!" Natasha perked her ear, that was definitely Eric. She should at least go back and check on him.

"Eric! Eric!" she frantically looked around her, looking for a sign to direct her back. "Dammit, now where did I come from?"

She looked around her in four directions, she was at another crossroads. The entire zoo was a huge grid, paths around square habitats. She had seen others scatter; maybe some had ended up by her.

"Sky! Nicolas! Leo! Cassie!" she sighed, exasperated "Ajax?" she even added.

She continued to walk around, hopelessly lost; grasping on the thought that if she went around in a random path she was bound to run into someone eventually.

_Grunt._

Natasha grabbed the head of the tomahawk and slipped it out of her belt.

_Snort._

She held it upside down and let the handle drop into her hand. She raised the small weapon and crouched. She slowly shifted her weight from foot to foot while also slowly turning, keeping watch for any other noise. Something like an oink came from behind her; she instantly switched her tomahawk to both of her hands and whirled around, instantly tackled by a furry beast.

Two large tusks pushed furiously against the metal shaft of her tomahawk. The beats frantically swung its head around and rammed its tusks against the metal weapon. Foam dripping from its mouth and landed on Natasha when it's flung its head around.

Natasha raised her legs and looked for a place to push it's off, but she missed its rear end. based off that and where it was on her, she guessed it was about 5 feet long. Natasha rocked backwards and brought her knees to her chest, and then in one motion she straightened them against the creature's chest. She let out a strained _oof_ as the creature was actually quite heavy, maybe 150 pounds.

She only threw the creature about its length, but it was enough time for her to get up and assess the situation.

The undead warthog shook its head back and forth, spraying foam everywhere. Ju8st like the leopard, its appearance screamed zombie, but the warthog looked alot worse off than the leopard. It had several bloody gashes down its flank dripping thick black blood. Its tusks were easily a foot long; they curved up into a 90° angle and ended it lethal points.

It bent down its flat head and squealed a pig war cry before setting off for Natasha. The thing looked pretty intimidating, it stood nearly at her waist and its body pulsed with muscles.

Natasha didn't know what else to do beside swing at it, but she was worried. A single prick of those tusks and she was s stumbling zombie for eternity. If only she had ranged weapons! She could-

_Thump._

_Squeeeeeeeeeeel._ Natasha covered her ears and grimaced at the unearthly sound of the pig in pain. It sounded like a thousand fingernails scratching down a chalkboard slowly. The pig fell onto its side and slowly skidded to a stop at her feet, dead. A shiny silver throwing knife was buried up to the hilt in its forehead.

"You're welcome; I dirtied my best knife for you." Someone said matter-of-factly from behind her.


	16. Zoo for Two! Part 2 (Finally!)

**It's about time I posted this! I won't hold you for long, read! **

The fearsome cry of the cat may as well have been a kitten's meow to Leo, he stood his ground. He watched everyone scatter while he simply set down his shotgun and grabbed his bat. Halfway there, a hand stopped him. Leo looked up to see Eric motioning for him to get lost.

"I got this." Eric said simply, Leo picked up his bag and nodded towards the tall male. Even from Leo's point of view it was brave, holding off the animal so everyone else could run away. Leo might have even felt hints of a grudging respect for him then, even though he would never tell anyone.

Leo scanned the area, Nicolas and the two girls were gone.

_Typical, take your girlfriends and run, leave everyone else to do all the work. _Leo shook his head in disgust. Eric's sister had also left, leaving Leo and an excited Ajax. The dog panted and wagged its tail, waiting at its master's feet, completely oblivious to its surroundings.

"Bring me its head Eric!" Leo bellowed, surprising him again with his words. He ran past grabbed Eric and down a cement walkway with Ajax happily bounding behind him.

Leo didn't have time to read the sign pointing down his chosen path, reading _Carnivores of Africa._

000

Inhuman cries could be heard behind Natasha. Jaguar, man, it was jumbled into a huge chorus of pain and adrenaline to the point where she couldn't tell between the two. Whoever it was, Nicolas, Eric, or Leo, she sure hoped they knew what they were doing.

_How could they know what they're doing? You don't exactly take Z-leopard defense classes in school._ Natasha pursed her lips and forcibly shook her head. They had gotten this far, a z-leopard/panther/cheetah/jaguar wasn't going to ruin their day.

"_How'd you like that fucker_!" Natasha perked her ear; that was definitely Eric. She should at least go back and check on him.

"Eric! Eric!" she frantically looked around her, looking for a sign to direct her back. "Dammit, now where did I come from?"

She looked around her in four directions, she was at another crossroads. The entire zoo was a huge grid, paths around square habitats. She had seen others scatter; maybe someone had ended up by her.

"Sky! Nicolas! Leo! Cassie! Sidney!" she sighed, exasperated "Ajax?" she even added.

She continued to walk around, hopelessly lost; grasping on the thought that if she went around in a random path she was bound to run into someone eventually.

_Grunt._

Natasha grabbed the head of the tomahawk and slipped it out of her belt.

_Snort._

She held it upside down and let the handle drop into her hand. She raised the small weapon and crouched. She slowly shifted her weight from foot to foot while also slowly turning, keeping watch for any other noise. Something like an oink came from behind her; she instantly switched her tomahawk to both of her hands and whirled around, instantly tackled by a furry beast.

Two large tusks pushed furiously against the metal shaft of her tomahawk. The beats frantically swung its head around and rammed its ivory weapons against the metal weapon. Foam dripping from its mouth, it swung its head around and much of it landed on Natasha.

Natasha raised her legs and swung them around for a place to push it off, but she missed its rear end. Based off that and where it was on her, she guessed it was about 5 feet long. Her caramel hair flailed around her as she rocked backwards and brought her knees to her chest. In one motion she straightened them against the creature's chest. She let out a strained _oof_ as the creature was actually quite heavy, maybe 150 pounds.

She only threw the creature about its length, but it was enough time for her to get up and assess the situation.

The undead warthog shook its head back and forth, spraying foam everywhere. Just like the leopard, its appearance screamed zombie, but the warthog looked alot worse off than the leopard. It had several bloody gashes down its flank dripping thick black blood. Its tusks were easily a foot long; they curved up into a 90° angle and ended it lethal points.

It bent down its flat head and squealed a pig war cry before setting off for Natasha. The thing looked pretty intimidating, it stood nearly at her waist and its body pulsed with muscles.

Natasha didn't know what else to do beside swing at it, but she was worried. A single prick of those tusks and she was a stumbling zombie for eternity. If only she had ranged weapons! She could-

_Thump._

_Squeeeeeeeeeeel._ Natasha covered her ears and grimaced at the unearthly sound of the pig in pain. It sounded like a thousand fingernails scratching down a chalkboard slowly. The pig fell onto its side and slowly skidded to a stop at her feet, dead. A shiny silver throwing knife was buried up to the hilt in its forehead.

"You're welcome; I dirtied my best knife for you." Someone said matter-of-factly from behind her.

000

After the first shot Sidney's rifle was next to useless.

She didn't need to use the scope to pump the first monkey full of lead. After the loud gunshot, the baboon looked at the hole in its chest before falling backwards, quickly replaced by three more.

Her rifle stock served as a weapon, Sidney grabbed it by the metal barrel and swung it around her desperately. She brought the gun over her shoulder and hurled it towards a pouncing primate but it stopped in its hands. The Babboon gripped the barrel and pulled it from her hands, starting a tug of war. The monkey bared its teeth and pulled back on the stock of the gun.

"Give me my gun you dirty ape!" Sidney tugged on the gun and shoved her foot along the barrel, making a sickly noise when her sneakers connected with the monkey's face. It let go of the weapon, but Sidney was leaning too far back and ended up on her rear end with baboon's swarming the duo.

A single stroke of Nicolas's cold steel ended the life of a single zombie monkey, but it wasn't enough. Every fallen monkey was immediately replaced by two more, stepping over their body to get a shot at the two humans. Nicolas could only give so much ground to the shifting wall of brown-grey fur before he bumped into Sidney.

"Hey." She said simply when he looked down at what he hit. He quickly helped her up before they turned back to the animals and their seemingly hopeless battle.

"Hop down and find the narrowest path you can, I'll be right behind you!" Nicolas yelled. Although she was right beside him, the cacophony of monkey calls blotted out all but the loudest noises.

Sidney peeked over the edge of the roof for a split second before dropping down without a thought.

With Sidney out of the way, Nicolas unleashed a before-unseen fury, frantically slashing and chopping, somehow maintaining a full circle of a perimeter. His sword hung by his side, as if he had given up, suddenly. The animal in front of him lunged forward to finish the job its pack had started. Nicolas twisted his body to the right, sending his arms out in a flash and hitting the monkey along the chest. New monkeys appeared in his new sight. One of them earned a boot in the jaw, sending it off the roof. It was soon followed by two headless monkey corpses.

Nicolas noticed the small lull in the previously endless horde of monkeys and took advantage of it. He held his sword at his waist as he jumped off the roof and found Sidney motioning him between two buildings. Once he had protection from the left and right, he whirled around and brandished his sword. He sat and waited for the rest of the monkeys, the tip of his sword trembling in his mixture of adrenaline and fury.

"Narrow..." His panting made completing a sentence difficult. "Path can only fit... couple monkeys..." He swallowed and focused again, his eyes scanning the area around him.

He waited, his breaths gradually getting slower. After he had finally figured out a way for them to fight the monkeys, they decide to run away?

"Are they gone?" Sidney whispered behind him, making him jump. He had forgotten her presence in his watchful state.

"I..." Nicolas furrowed his eyebrows, it seemed impossible, but the monkeys had fled. "I think so."

"Baboons live in packs, similar to wolves. Even in their diseased state, they still have a pack instinct. Since you killed their Alpha, they will be momentarily confused and disorganized." Sidney somehow still managed to be a genius.

"Is that..." Nicolas sheathed his sword and burst out into the building area previously overrun by primates. Eric and Cassie were slowly peeking out of a shack, hesitant to go outside after what a racket that must have been.

"Nicolas!"Cassie saw him first and ran towards him. Eric needed a few more moments, the sudden bright sunlight hard on his eyes because of his left one.

"Eric!" Sidney tackled her temporarily stunned brother in a hug; Cassie repeated the action on Nicolas.

"Glad to see you guys are okay, what happened?" Eric forcibly pushed Sidney off and picked up his dropped crossbow.

"Swarm of zombie baboon's, that's what!" Nicolas exclaimed with a snort.

"Here's half the group, we need to find the others." Eric started looking around, as if they were hiding.

"How about we start where we split up?" Sidney piped in.

"It's a start at least." Eric retorted, pushing past Nicolas and taking the lead.

000

"Cool." Leo grinned as he tapped the glass. He was in a small building lined with glass cubes, most of them a meter by a meter, filled with different reptiles.

"_Wagler's Pit Viper_." Leo squinted and read the name of the green snake off of the glass. The snake lunged at the glass, making Leo take a couple steps back. "Feisty little guy. C'mon Ajax, were getting out of here before we have to fight a rhino, or whatever they keep here."

Ajax closed its panting mouth and tilted its head sideways.

"What?" Leo started walking away. "It's bound to happen."

000

Natasha braced herself as she slowly turned around and met the unfamiliar voice. The first thing she noticed was that the person was female. The second thing she noticed was the scar. It was huge, at least 4 inches long, and went underneath her left eye.

"Why the fuck would you think it was a good idea to hide in a zoo?" The girl asked suddenly, emerald eyes blazing. Natasha was caught by surprise.

"Err, we, uh... We're looking for somebody." Natasha stuttered out before thinking. This girl could very well be a bandit, there was no way to tell if she was dangerous or not. The new girl slowly walked behind her and made a _tsk tsk_ noise with her tongue.

"We? So you have a group?" the girl shook her head slowly, her long black hair swaying.

_Shit, I shouldn't have given them away._ Natasha pursed her lips, but refused to be so dominated. She whirled around and faced the new girl head on.

"You saved me, thank you." She said the first part with venom, so it took effort to make the last part sound sincere. "What do you want?"

"Food, sleep, survival." The girl answered nonchalantly and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe a little action. I assume you'll need help getting out of here?"

Natasha simply nodded; she didn't know what this girl was about or what she wanted, but she definitely would milk any help she could get from the knife-throwing dominant girl.

"I thought so." She casually stretched her arms and yawned, completely comfortable in the apocalyptic world around her. "I wouldn't sleep at night if I let them kill you, so I'll drag along your deadweight his time." She lashed out with her words casually and walked down the concrete path. Natasha pursed her lips tightly, but controlled her anger. She put Sora's tomahawk in her belt and followed her out.

"Name's Skylar. If you can't catch up, I'm not waiting for you."

000

"Fucking shit!" Random, nonsensical curses flew out of Leo's mouth as he brought down his bat on the creatures skull, flattening its cap that read _Maintenance_. Ajax snarled and shifted his body back, his front paws sticking out. It's muscles tensed, every fibre of his being on edge. Leo turned and found another Zoo worker slowly stumbling towards him.

"Ajax, attack." Leo stated calmly. Ajax's powerful hind legs shot it forward, easily tackling the zombie. He bent his head down and proceeded to shred the zombie apart, scattering it across the room. Leo got up from his bent position and ticked his shirt over his belt; it was awkward with the new obstruction in the front.

The pair walked out of the security and maintenance shed, finding nothing of use. They were instantly met by a moan, a stumbling figure rising up, previously leaning against the building. Without looking, Leo pulled out his new handgun from the front if his pants and set it against its temple. The trigger clicked lightly, and then exploded the zombie's face, rendering it illegible. Ajax bent down and sniffed momentarily, following a trail of scent. He went on a random, serpentine path before setting off east, down one of the paths.

"Where are you gone now?" Leo carefully set the handgun in his belt, shooting "it" would turn out... unpleasant, and trotted after his pet. "Last time it was just a bag of chipsssss..." Leo trailed off and slowed to a halt. Ajax stiffened and growled deeply, the hair on his shoulders standing straight up.

"Looky what we have here." Leo slowly reached for his shotgun, never taking his eyes of the infected creature. "Looks like the zoo was all out of buffalo."

The Z-lion roared and stood on his hind legs, flailing his paws in the air. He brought them down on a nearby cluster of candy dispensers, sending it everywhere. It growled a sound emanating deep in its chest. The lion's hazel eyes fluttered and it clenched them momentarily. An observant person would notice that when they opened, they were a ghastly white.

**Finally! Sorry for the slow update, but summer is my busy time. And sorry for not telling what happened to Sora!**


	17. Zoo for Two! Part 3

**Fudge yeah, update!**

**Side note, Eric and Sora's approximate appearances now available on my profile.**

**To change it up, I'd like to do something special for each chapter from now on.**

**I'm going to acknowledge Junior-Sama (I'm going to call you what wether or not you like it.) The nicest guy who sends in the rudest OC. Also, one of his main attributes is hating the OC that belongs to the guy who's choosing the winners... XD**

"Where's your group located?" Skylar asked, making Natasha grit her teeth. Her new companion had been trying to squeeze information out of her for the last half hour.

"In an apartment." She answered. It was cryptic enough; there were plenty of apartments in Montréal.

"How long have you been a group?"

"Since the beginning of all this."

"How many of you are there?"

"You'll meet them right away, alright!" Natasha yelled suddenly. "Until then, just pipe dow-"

Skylar grabbed Natasha's forearm and spun around her, putting it in an awkward position behind her back. A gleam of silver later, a knife was brandished and held near her throat.

"What was that, _Prissy_?" She hissed in her ear. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were telling me what to do."

Not one to be shamed, Natasha brought an elbow into Skylar's stomach. The girl looked unfazed, but took a step back.

"Don't touch me!" Natasha yelled, whipping out the tomahawk.

"You don't even know how to use that!" Skylar accused cruelly. Her hands whipped past her belt and two, un-opened butterfly knives found their way into her palms with uncanny speed. "I'd kill you before you lifted that thing."

"Then why put up with me?" Natasha countered.

"Good question. You're too much trouble for what your worth, which is nothing." She answered casually, returning her knives to their place on her belt and passing Natasha.

Natasha gritted her teeth again. If she had to put up with _her_ all day, she'd be left with stubs by night.

_She saved you, you owe her. Just because you're living in hell doesn't mean you have no honour._

"NATASHA!" Someone declared before pouncing on her. She furiously fought off her attacker, blonde, caramel, and highlighted hair flying everywhere.

"It's me!" The attacker rolled until she was on top, straddling Natasha. (Giggity) Since she could hold down the girl, Natasha got a good look at her.

"Sky!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her... or trying. She was pinned to the ground and didn't have long arms.

"Where is everyone? Who's with you? My tomahawk!" She blurt out, noticing different things at the same time.

"We got scattered. A girl who saved me. Why didn't you bring it? Why are you in a zoo!?" Natasha countered, answering questions and asking more. Sora realized she was still on top and got off her, helping.

"I got a call from my family, they said to meet them here. We always used to come here..." Sora answered sadly. Her demeanour shifted immediately, Natasha's appearance only being a brief respite from her sadness.

"That's great! But... where are they?" Natasha asked excitedly.

Sky looked down, slowly pointing to a grassy park area. A rectangular patch of recently turned dirt sat beside a half-filled box-shaped hole, a small pile of dirt still sat on the grass.

"Oh hunny..." Natasha wrapped her arms around her slowly, Sora eagerly returned the hug. Everyone but Leo had found comfort crying in another person's arms so far. With so much grief and misery around them, everyone found no embarrassment in showing emotion. Except for Leo of course... who is an exception in more cases than one.

"I was too late..." She said quietly leaving the unraveling of the situation to the rest of them.

"Well _Happy_, ready to keep going?' Skylar grabbed both of them by the scruff of their neck like kittens, pulling them apart.

"Erm, yes. I'm fine... I already dealt with it." Sora answered reluctantly. Natasha shot Skylar a glare that rivaled the rudeness in her last words.

"Sora... why didn't you bring your weapon?' she asked, shoving the weapon into Sora's hands.

"I guess I forgot... I was just too excited about seeing my parents. Right after... _it_ happened, I called Leo, but my phone went dead." Sora explained. She sighed and smiled a small grin. "I guess it wasn't worth it to play Candy Crush while I was waiting."

"Wait!" Sora eyed her tomahawk. "Did you dent it!?"

"C'mon..." Natasha sweat dropped. "I just found you... drop it for now."

"Idiots..." Skylar muttered. "I'm surrounded by idiots..."

000

_Thunk_

Eric lowered his crossbow and the four teenagers shuffled past the fallen mountain goat, a black bolt sticking out from its eye socket. The blonde teen lowered beside it, picking up the head to show everyone.

"_Wait! These aren't my contacts_." He imitated, making the goat's mouth move. He dropped the head of the goat and burst out laughing.

"Gosh you're weird..." Sidney muttered; her lack of laughter contrast to Cassie or Nicolas who couldn't hold it in.

With a sickening noise, he retrieved the bolt and put it in the quiver attached to his crossbow before hurrying after everyone.

"Hey _Nic_." Cassie started over to him, eyebrows fluttering. "When we get back, do you want to do something? Together?" Her cheeks flushed red in expected anxiety. "We could-"

"Sorry Cassie. Gotta worry about what's at hand." He cut her off, not hearing what her statement had been.

"B-but..." Her bottom lip stuck out, her chest slowly pushing towards Nicolas's direction.

"Leisure can wait." He said firmly, turning away from her and walking purposefully towards Eric.

"Hey... its fine." Sidney patted Cassie on the shoulder, taking on her womanly duties (love that word) as a comforting friend. "He's just worried about Sora."

"Why won't he worry about ME!?" Cassie exclaimed, stomping her foot in frustration.

"He's just... he is our leader. He's going to be busy." Sidney said in an attempt to comfort her.

"Eh Nic!" Eric acknowledged his approach.

"No. Just no Eric. You're American. You are not allowed to say that." Nicolas denied.

"Eh?" He asked.

"Yes eh. There are three things Canadian's are passionate about. Hockey, maple syrup... okay four. Hockey, maple syrup, Canadian bacon... okay _five_ things. Hockey, maple syrup, Canadian bacon, making fun of Newfies, and our stereotypically associated words." Nicolas explained firmly.

"Ooookay. I'm... sorry?" Eric looked at him strangely.

"You'd better be."

000

"Stop!" Skylar put her arms in front of both of the girls, staying motionless. She slowly grabbing a throwing knife and sent it flying through the bars of the habitat in front of them. It went through the shrubbery and disappeared, but it made a metallic _clank_.

"What was it?" Natasha breathed through clenched teeth.

"People..." She answered slowly.

000

"Nicolas!" Eric spun and booted the brown-haired boy in the back, sending him tumbling forward on the concrete. A knife whirled past where he was, hitting a metal bar instead of his face.

"Since when are you a ninja?" Nicolas muttered, but stayed down.

"_Get down_!" He whispered to the two girls, who did as they were told. Eric took command, squatting down and checking through the habitat with his crossbow raised. He shuffled back and forth, but couldn't get a clear view.

"Eric? Nicolas? "A familiar voice asked.

"Natasha!" They all said simultaneously with a heavy dose of relief.

"There you are!"Sora rounded the corner.

"SKY!" The two girls bellowed, tackling her in a hug.

"I guess I'm chopped liver..." Natasha grumbled, passing by the group hug. Nicolas jogged up to her.

"You're safe!" He exclaimed, truly excited.

"Yup..." She answered monotone-ly. Nicolas stuck his hands in his pockets and she looked away, they both stood there awkwardly. Without warning, Nicolas wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm... glad you're okay." He said awkwardly, retreating his arms after an instant when she didn't return the hug.

"MY TURN!" Eric wrapped his long arms around her, lifting her in the air while laughing hysterically.

"Eric... I can't breathe... and you're squeezing my boobs..." Natasha said quietly with what little breath she had.

"I don't see anything wrong with th-"Sidney reached over and slapped him across the back of the head without breaking her hug. "Ow!" He retorted, putting her down.

"Why did she leave?" Nicolas asked Natasha, looking at Sora.

"We'll all tell our stories when we get home." Natasha answered, making Nicolas smile.

_She assumes she's going to make it out of this, that's good. We are all still in good spirits. _He thought.

"This is Skylar!" Sora introduced.

"It's nice to see another survivor. I'm Nicolas Marcotte" Nicolas said, stretching out his hand. She stared at it absently and put her hands in her pockets. Accepting rejection, Nicolas retreated his hand.

"I'm Erickson Amsel. The short one is Cassie I-forget-her-last-name and the other is my sister, Sidney." Eric explained.

"It's Porter..." Cassie sweat dropped.

"Pervy..." Skylar pointed at Eric. "Needy, Ditsy, and Brainy." She continued on to Nicolas, Cassie and Sidney, which made all of them frown except for Cassie, who didn't know what her name meant. "Is this all of you? One more and you could be the seven idiots!" She exclaimed, bursting out laughing.

"There's actually one more..." Sidney answered reluctantly. "Leon and his puppy, Ajax."

Everyone sent Natasha and Sora a _Why the fuck didn't you leave her behind_ look.

"Did I mention she saved me?" Natasha said in answer. "And she attacked you guys accidentally, but she thought she was protecting us!"

"I was protecting _me_." Skylar corrected.

A cacophony of loud noises interrupted them.

"If you want to find Leo, follow the loud noises and destruction..." Sidney said, eyeing the broken candy dispensers.

000

**It's time for the climax motha-truckers! We've all been waiting for someone to go Lv. 9000 badass on the Z-lion, so here it is! I Hope I did it well!**

"Ajax, stay."

"Ruff!"

"Here Kitty! MEEOOOW!" Leo smiled, strapping his baseball bat to its usual place on his back. The resulting roar was enough to make any sixteen ton elephant run away in fear.

"Ow! Hey dude, that hurts the ears." Leo cupped an ear in mock pain.

"ROOARR!"

"You are seriously terrible at carrying conversation," Leo commented. "And you need a breath mint... or twelve." The Z-lion pounced at him, 400 pounds of pure muscle. Leo was faster, holding his shotgun in front of him and side-stepping around the lion.

"Feisty! Too bad you're not female." Leo commented, pumping the zombie lion's butt full of lead, making a crater into its skin. It took no heed of the injury and turned on Leo, swiping at him.

Leo batted the paw away with his stock and smiled, bringing it down hard on its nose. It responded by jumping at him.

The initial impact knocked him down, but Leo rolled out of the way before he could get squished, making the lion landed on hard concrete.

"I'm here!" He bellowed, holding his shotgun at his waist. The Lion stalked towards him.

_POW_

Leo blasted the cat, ripping a hole in its side. The cat flinched momentarily but continued towards him.

POW

Leo's shot missed him mostly, but scattered the odd shot around his face.

"Your SLOW kitty-cat." He screamed, running at the male lion. He side-pole vaulted over its large head, landing on its neck as if he was riding it.

"Well this isn't the best position..." Leo muttered at the cat began to swipe at him. It flailed and flailed, but missed; only succeeding it scratching off half its own face with its misses. He reached his head back and tried to bite Leo, but still couldn't reach him. The lion stopped moving and fell on its side, 400 pounds of lion pinning Leo's leg.

"FUCK! GET UP YOU CAT!" He pumped his shotgun and tore away a chunk of its neck, but the thick muscles made it impossible to harness the full power of the gun. Since Leo was in a different position, the lion could reach him. He swiped hard, knocking the shotgun out of his hands. The large cat rolled to its feet, releasing Leo, and made to run at him.

Leo disappeared and appeared by his shotgun, running so fast even with his injury the cat didn't register it. Like Sonic the Hedgehog. A French, black-haired, Sonic who loves to cook and has anger management issues.

"Are you alright...?" Leo cradled his gun, fully aware of the massive cat behind him. He turned it over and spotted the long, deep scratch down the barrel.

"Y-you scratched my- my shotgun?" Leo said, barely believing what he saw.

Leo's onyx eye twitched once.

Twice.

And a third time.

"HOW DARE YOU SCRATCH MY GUN YOU IGNORANT OVER-GROWN FAT OBESE FUCKING DICK-FACE ZOMBIE!"

"Leo's in trouble." Sidney commented from the sidelines, everyone too scared to jump in. "A lion has a jaw-crushing strength of over a thousand pounds, enough to crack a-"

"Sidney, I don't think you're helping." Eric cut her off.

"Definitely Brainy." Skylar grumbled.

"GET BACK HERE YOU CAT!" Leo bellowed. The lion was running away from Leo, whimpering all the while, while Leo chased it around the place, waving his shotgun. He tackled it, wrapping its arm around its neck in a chokehold.

"Leave it to Leo to get a 400 pound male zombie lion to run in fear..." Sidney smiled, almost proud to have him in the same group as her.

Leo grabbed his baseball bat off his back and beat the skull of the zombie lion in. Somehow while only swinging one hand, he left it dazed and confused.

"DON'T TOUCH MY SHOTGUN!" Leo bellowed, using his injured shotgun to blow the face off of the Lion, efficiently ending it.

"That fight was shorter than I thought it was going to be." Eric admitted

"Maybe Ignatuis was tired-" Nicolas started.

"Actually I'm just that badass." Leo confirmed, and no one argued.

"Doubtful." Skylar snorted, and every turned towards her.

"What did you say!?" Leo bellowed, brandishing his bat. Skylar brought out two knives and smiled.

"Bring it on, _A__ngry_." She challenged, making Leo lunge at her, but he was held back.

"LEON CHARBONNEAU!" Sidney screamed, pulling back on his arm. Leo growled at her, but lowered his bat and backed up.

"We are near the entrance-" Eric started.

"Really?' Nicolas asked excitedly.

'Yes, some of us pay attention. Anyway, we are near the entrance, the truck is outside. Go without me, I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully." He said.

"Eric! Dude, there's no point, it's dangerous." Nicolas cut him off.

"Trust me." He grinned mischievously. Nicolas frowned, he did trust Eric... but he saw no logic in his actions. He told himself that he was over thinking the danger and, after saying goodbye, walked out of the zoo.

"It's great to be out of that damn thing. I'll take human zombies over animal zombies any day." Sidney said.

"How about no zombies?" Natasha snorted.

000

Everyone was anxious about Eric's arrival. Similar to Sora's disappearance, they eagerly awaited the reasons that the members of the group seemed terrible at telling.

"No ,Ditsy." Skylar said. She had stayed with them and been surprisingly good-mannered, mostly because she was too busy stuffing her face with their food supply to do anything else.

"You see-"She cut herself off, eyeing the small black form by the couch. It was a black cat. She whipped out a knife and hurled it at it, but it ran away and was too fast.

"Where did it go?" She demanded, looking around.

"Where did what go?" Nicolas asked from the couch. "I didn't see anything. You trying to put holes in our floors?"

"Its... nothing, Needy." She muttered, shaking her head. She needed to get that cat. It would be the first cat she didn't kill on sight since... no, those were bad memories.

"Anyway Ditsy, _you're_ the seven dwarves. Angry, Pervy, Ditsy, Brainy, Sassy, Happy, and your leader Needy."

"Hey!"

"And _I'm_ Snow White. The beautiful princess caught up in all your peasant antics-"

"I'm back!" Eric announced simply, closing the door behind him.

"Eric!" Sidney wrapped her arms around him.

"Don't worry, I was fine. I need to talk to Leo." He pushed her aside.

"He's in his room-"

"LEO! I TOUCHED YOUR SHOTGUN!"

"WHAT THE-" Leo came into view, brandishing a lamp, the first thing he saw that could be used as a weapon.

"I'm kidding, now look at this." Eric said, getting straight to the point. You couldn't blame him, after being gone a whole day he would want to show what he was doing. He picked up something he had set down and placed it on the table for all to see.

"Pervy you're... strange." Skylar commented.

On the table lay the taxidermied, and mounted, head of the zombie leopard Eric fought.

"You told me to bring you its head." Eric smiled broadly.

"Eric... I think you'll do." Leo looked up at him, _smiling_. Everyone's jaw dropped and Cassie tried to faint into Nicolas's arms, but she ended up hitting the floor.

"How did you do this?" Sidney asked in bewilderment.

"You were too young to know him, but Uncle John was a taxidermist. He showed me how when I was young. I just found a taxidermy shop," He held up a phone. "Google Maps quit halfway there, but I found it."

"NOOO!" Nicolas felt to his knees, his lack of direction now being a incurable curse. "GOOGLE MAPS IS NO MORE! WAAA!"

"Needy." Skylar grumbled.

"I think I'm hanging this right... here." Eric backed away, smiling at the leopard head hanging on the living room wall. Eric had done a quite impressive job. The faded fur was tucked perfectly so it looked real, the sharp teeth shone in the cat's chosen roaring position, he even had new, fake, white eyes.

"I never thought a leopard would be in our living room..." Cassie muttered, staring at it in disbelief.

**THERE IT IS! Good news, school starts soon! School means routine, so I won't be waking up at 1 like a lazy bugger. I'll be writing nearly everyday and updates will be much faster, even if I rotate between my stories. SORRY FOR THE WAIT!**


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